Power
by intrasonic
Summary: Just your basic Ranma & Fiancee fanfic, focusing on Akane and Shampoo. But hey, at least it's finished, right? [Complete]
1. Part 1

Valley of the Wind Productions presents...   
Power   
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Intrasonic 

> brackets denote Chinese speech 

* * *

Part 1 

* * *

It was a disgusted look on a disgusting face.   
"Aren't you done cleaning the floors yet?"   
"Almost... done," Mousse panted, frantically scrubbing with the mop.   
"You already cleaned that part," Cologne snapped, the look on her face not relenting one bit.   
"Blind idiot," Shampoo agreed, finishing the task of putting away the glasses.   
With all his might, Mousse ignored the two, re-aiming his mop to a dirty section of the floor as best as his vision allowed. He consoled himself with thoughts of how this would all be worth it someday. "Someday... I'll marry you, Shampoo..." he whispered.   
A normal person would never have heard his whispering. As it was, there were no normal people present in the Nekohanten and the two martial artists heard him perfectly well.   
"You never impress Shampoo," the younger of the two laughed.   
Cologne smirked also. "She's quite right, boy. Go ahead and keep trying. But Shampoo will never be yours in this lifetime."   
"Shampoo only love Ranma. Stupid Mousse not see that."   
Cologne's face abruptly grew somewhat solemn. "Great-granddaughter?"   
"Yes, Great-grandmother?"   
"Come with me. I want to talk with you about something."   
Shampoo swallowed and nodded. Steeling herself, she followed Cologne into the next room. All things considered, she supposed this was overdue... 

* * *

Shutting the door behind her, Shampoo knelt on the floor respectfully. Cologne eyed her appraisingly for what seemed like an eternity, the ancient eyes effortlessly dissecting her, piece by piece.   
Finally she spoke. "Would you care to guess as to what I want to talk about, Shampoo?"   
Shampoo gulped. "Great-grandmother... not happy about Ranma."   
"Indeed, I am not. How long have you been trying to snare Ranma?"   
The question was rhetorical, and both knew it.   
"Shampoo... try harder. She do better-"   
"Yes, keep trying harder," Cologne interrupted. "Keep chasing after him. Keep bringing meals to him every day. Keep disgracing yourself with all the skimpy clothing you wear around him. Keep cheapening yourself in his eyes every time you drape yourself over him."   
"Not understand..."   
"What's not to understand?"   
Shampoo swallowed, her nervousness evident as she reverted back to Chinese. I... I love Ranma, Great-grandmother. If I must lower myself in the eyes of these pathetic common Japanese, in order to get his love in return... that is a small price to pay. >   
"Has it gotten you his love yet?"   
The younger's head bowed. "Not... yet."   
"Well, I suppose you'll have to keep trying. After all, surely persistence will pay off in end, don't you think?"   
Shampoo had no reply to that.   
"Has it occurred to you, Shampoo, _why_ Ranma hasn't returned your affections?"   
"Ranma..." Shampoo swallowed before replying. "Ranma like Akane."   
Cologne smirked. "Quite right. That much is fairly obvious. But don't be too hard on yourself. He likes you too. Otherwise he would have sent you packing a long time ago. He's simply not a very decisive person outside of combat. To understate the matter."   
A nod. Shampoo still didn't understand what Cologne was driving at. She had been prepared for a never-ending barrage of criticism regarding her continued failure to snare Ranma, and then peace again. This was different...   
"In short, Shampoo, Ranma likes you, but he also likes certain other girls. The Okonomiyaki girl, he considers more of a friend, which makes her much less dangerous. The gymnastics girl, we needn't worry about either. But Akane Tendou is still a obstacle to your ambitions. You've done better than you think, but you're at a stalemate."   
Shampoo still didn't understand.   
Cologne abruptly changed the topic. "What about Mousse, Shampoo? He might defeat you someday."   
Shampoo grimaced. "Mousse never beat-"   
"He might. Someday."   
"Then... Shampoo still not have to marry. And Mousse never beat Ranma!"   
Cologne nodded. "Exactly. Even if Mousse managed to get your attention, Ranma is still in his way. He knows this, of course. That's why he hasn't bothered trying to impress you lately. He's concentrating on Ranma first."   
Things began to fall into place. "Like Shampoo and Akane... even if Ranma like Shampoo, Akane still obstacle."   
"Exactly. Therefore, you must get rid of Akane first."   
"Ranma mad if Shampoo hurt Akane."   
Cologne chuckled. "If you do things _that_ way, certainly he'll be mad. You still have much to learn, Great-granddaughter. But I have an idea that should give you an excellent chance. It will be up to you to take advantage of it, but..."   
It had been a long time since Cologne had actually volunteered to help her out in winning Ranma's heart... "Shampoo listen good."   
Cologne's smile grew larger. She hadn't been lying, but even if Shampoo managed to bungle things up... it would still be an excellent source of amusement. "Listen closely, then. And perhaps learn a few things about letting an opponent defeat themselves." 

* * *

"You're such a jerk!"   
"I didn't do nothin', you tomboy!"   
Ranma and Akane. Walking to school. Insulting each other as usual.   
"You always make me late for school!"   
"You're just too slow!"   
"I'll show you slow!" Without any further explanation, Akane wound up her fist, preparing to pound Ranma hard enough to render him senseless.   
Ranma skipped out of reach easily, landing on the fence. "Nyah! Too slow, you tomboy!"   
With a grunt, Akane clamped her hands around the fencepost, yanking it out of its foundations, incidentally sending Ranma sprawling downwards towards the river in the process.   
Ranma abruptly found himself yanked to a halt. "Ack!"   
"You be careful, Ranma."   
Ranma winced. Not now... "Hi, Shampoo."   
The Amazon looked at him curiously from atop her bicycle. She was now suspending him in midair by his leg as she balanced atop an undamaged section of the fence. "Nihao, Ranma. Why you try jump in water?"   
"That tomboy knocked me in!" he growled.   
"Oh, so now you're flirting with Shampoo, are you?" Akane growled.   
"I ain't doin' nothing!" Ranma shot back, mustering as much dignity as was possible while hanging upside down.   
Mercifully, Shampoo set him down on the sidewalk. "Violent girl listen to Ranma."   
"Why should I listen to you?"   
Shampoo smirked at Akane. "Ranma beat Akane easy if he want to. He let Violent-girl hit because he not want to hurt."   
"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Akane demanded, irritation growing on her face.   
"You weakling, that all."   
"I'll show you weak!"   
"Shampoo already know weak. She look at weak right now."   
"I'm not weak!"   
"Ranma," Shampoo beckoned. "Who stronger? Akane or Shampoo?"   
Ranma shrugged, his mouth working much faster than his brain, as usual. "You'd beat her easy, Shampoo."   
Akane's face began to heat up.   
"And Ranma beat Shampoo easy. So Ranma beat Akane too-too easy. So Akane much, much weakling."   
"You little-" Without even finishing the sentence, Akane swung at Shampoo.   
Shampoo ducked, letting the fist pass overhead. "Akane much, much slow too."   
Akane swung again.   
Shampoo skipped sideways. "Violent-girl pa-the-tic," she said calmly. "No touch Shampoo. Shampoo maybe hit back?"   
"Just try it!"   
Shampoo leaned back to avoid a third punch, simultaneously twisting her body up in preparation to unleash a full-force roundhouse kick. "Shampoo try," she agreed.   
"Hey!"   
At the sound of Ranma's protest, Shampoo spun around Akane's fourth punch, withholding the kick and immediately putting several paces between herself and Akane.   
"What wrong, Ranma?" she asked innocently.   
"You coulda hurt Akane, Shampoo!" he replied.   
Akane's face began to go beet-red.   
"I only play-fight," Shampoo protested.   
Ranma sighed. "I know. But you're way stronger than Akane! She's not as strong as you or me. You coulda hurt her with a kick like that!"   
"Shampoo sorry..."   
Akane was seething by this time.   
Ranma gulped upon seeing that Shampoo was about to go into tears. "Hey, don't worry 'bout it. Just be careful next time, okay?"   
Shampoo nodded quickly, producing something from her bike's delivery basket. "Ranma want pork-bun?"   
Ranma looked at it, brightening. "Hey, thanks!"   
"Shampoo have delivery to do. See later on."   
Even as she rode off swiftly, Akane finally lost it. "Ranma, you JERK!!!"   
"What did I do?!" he demanded, avoiding her blow so that he was able to finish eating the pork-bun. "I just saved you!"   
"I'm a martial artist too!" she yelled furiously. "I don't need you butting in on my fights!"   
"A slow chick like you is no match for Shampoo!" he protested.   
**CLANG**   
Ranma set his foot down on the ground as Akane withdrew her fist from where it had bent the metal fence post. "What's your problem?" he asked, finally getting angry. "You're so ungrateful!"   
Akane's face was still contorted with rage. All at once, the storm passed, her face calming down. "Forget it, you pervert. _I'm_ not going to be late for school."   
Ranma watched her march away in a huff. "Geez," he muttered. "What's her problem?"   
The empty street gave him no answers, but he wasn't inclined to press the question at the time.   
A deft leap landed him atop a nearby roof, whereupon he quickly began to bounce from roof to roof, heading straight for the school. He had to get to school fast, or Miss Hinako would be downright angry with him. And the last thing he needed was to have another person angry at him. 

* * *

Akane had started running as soon as she'd left Ranma's sight, fists whitening as her feet pounded the sidewalk. She briefly let herself imagine that she was preparing to pummel a horde of perverted schoolboys that all wanted to date her, just like she'd used to at one time.   
But no, there was no horde. Just a single perverted schoolboy that _didn't_ want to date her. And who she couldn't beat up in a real fight if her life had depended on it. And who had three other females chasing him that she couldn't beat up either. And had a whole crowd of other people trying to kill him that she couldn't beat up-   
A tap on the shoulder jarred her from her thoughts. Even as she let herself ignore the fact that she was running at a speed that only a few select people could possibly hope to match, she turned towards the source.   
"Good day, Tendou-girl."   
Akane scowled. First Shampoo, and now- "Cologne."   
The Amazon Matriarch smiled atop her staff as she effortlessly kept pace. "Nice to see you in such cheerful spirits. Please, stop a moment and talk."   
The sarcasm was not lost on Akane, but she ignored it. She was already in a bad mood, and the last thing she needed was to deal with yet _another_ person who she couldn't beat up.   
"I'm going to be late!"   
"Please, stop."   
"I told you! I'm going to be-"   
***WHAM***   
Akane's head rang for several moments as she struggled to regain her bearings. After the stars cleared from her vision, she was able to make out a brick wall in front of her, slightly cracked from some impact...   
"I _told_ you to stop."   
Akane gritted her teeth, face flushed red. "WHAT?!?"   
Cologne was unperturbed. "Come now, Tendou-girl. I think you might want to hear me out on this. I witnessed that little exchange a moment ago between Son-in-Law, my Great-granddaughter and you. I'm not impressed at all."   
"Well, _excuse me_!!!"   
"I said nothing about you, Tendou-girl. I was referring to the other two who were harassing you."   
Akane finally calmed down a little. A little. "What about it?"   
"Such arrogance is unbecoming to them. Especially my Shampoo. A martial artist must learn humility. Would you be willing to help them learn?"   
"Huh?"   
"Do I have to spell it out for you? I'm offering to help you out."   
Akane looked suspicious. She knew what Cologne's ideas of 'helping' could entail. She'd been there when the old woman had 'helped' Ryouga. "Let me guess. You're going to teach me the Bakusai Tenketsu?"   
"Even better. I'm going to give you _this_."   
On reflex, Akane snatched an object from air as it was thrown towards her. She looked at it curiously. It was a necklace of some sort. A thin gold chain, broken only by a large diamond framed in gold. It felt fragile, but Akane could almost swear she felt power radiating from it.   
"What is this?" she asked.   
"An old Amazon treasure. Among my people, it's known simply as a Jewel of Power. It's also been known by other names over the years. But that's not relevant now. What _is_ relevant is that it makes a person stronger."   
Akane alternating between looking at the jewel and the giver, as though not sure which could be trusted more at the moment. "How much stronger?"   
"Much, much stronger, Tendou-girl. On level with _me_, believe it or not."   
_That_ was strong, Akane knew. Perhaps Ranma _had_ faced her off to stand-still before with his Cat-Fist. But the fact remained that Cologne was nothing short of an awesome fighter when confronted. To get that kind of power... "Why would you give this to me?"   
"Politics and discipline, Tendou-girl. Shampoo and Son-in-Law have gotten a little too arrogant as of late. It would look rather petty if I were intervene directly. It might not go over well back home, you see. But I see no problem with having a young woman give them a few bruises. Or with you being that young woman."   
Akane still looked sceptical.   
"I'll tell you what, Tendou-girl. Keep the jewel. Wear it, and challenge Son-in-Law to a sparring match tonight. See what you think, then?"   
She finally nodded. "Alright. I'll try it. But I don't owe you anything for this!"   
"Nothing at all."   
Akane shrugged. "Fine. Assuming this thing even does anything at all."   
"That's all I ask. Something for me, something for you. Good day, Tendou-girl. Besides, just imagine what Son-in-Law will of you after this?"   
"Why would I care what that jerk thinks of me?"   
Cologne nodded. "Of course. Anyway, you'd better get to school before you're late." 

* * *

The day seemed to pass forever for Akane. She still wore the jewel, though ever sceptical of it. There was no way Cologne could be telling the truth. There had to be a catch. The old woman _always_ had a trick up her sleeve, didn't she?   
Math was a wasted class, for all the attention she paid to the lesson being taught. Had she not normally been such an attentive student, she might have actually faced discipline in Literature. Being hit with a volleyball in gym class only brought her back to reality for a moment. Her mind was too occupied to pay attention to the going-ons around her, concerning itself only with trying to unravel whatever plan Cologne was surely hatching. 

"You're WHAT?!?"   
"Just for today, Yuki," Akane placated. "It won't be the end of the world if I miss ne geography class, right?"   
"Are you feeling okay?" her friend asked worriedly. "You've been... really spaced out all day. Did you get in another fight with Ranma?"   
Akane flushed slightly. "It's... not that."   
"Did you forget a tampon? I have some in my locker-"   
"No, no, it's nothing like that. Besides, my period ended a few days ago. I just have some things on my mind. I just need some time to sort them out."   
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"   
"It's... okay. I'll be fine tomorrow, okay? I just can't concentrate today."   
"If you're sure..."   
"I'm fine," Akane assured her friend cheerfully. "Really, I am." 

* * *

Mousse looked up from his cooking as someone entered the restaurant. Shampoo and Cologne were both off doing errands/plotting. Privately, he suspected the latter, but it wasn't as though he could do anything to stop them.   
"Welcome to the Nekohaten," he greeted the new arrival.   
"Hi Mousse."   
Akane. She didn't show up around here very often, no doubt on account of Shampoo. "Hello, Akane. What can I get you?"   
"A bowl of mushroom ramen would be nice. Are Cologne or Shampoo in?"   
"They're both out right now, I'm afraid. Can I pass on a message to them?"   
Akane smiled, though Mousse couldn't have seen it. "No, that's okay. I wanted to talk with you, actually."   
Mousse raised an eyebrow. "Me?"   
"Yes, you. You're an Amazon too, aren't you?"   
"Well, y-yes, I am."   
"I was curious about Cologne."   
"You're asking _me_ about her?"   
"Just a few things. I know she's some sort of matriarch back in your village. I know she's an incredible fighter."   
"That's right."   
"So what does the first part mean? What does a matriarch do back in your village."   
Mousse pushed a bowl of ramen towards her, steaming hot. "She helps rule the village, really. She's one of a small group of woman who are chosen because they're stronger and smarter than all the others."   
"I can see that. Stronger, I believe it. Smarter?"   
Mousse actually chuckled. "You Japanese seem to think we Amazons are obsessed with strong fighters."   
"Well?"   
"Only to a point. A strong fighter can do well in the tribe. Shampoo was the best fighter in her age group when Ranma beat her... I suppose you might have said that she was quite popular back home. But fighting strength is only effective to a point. After a certain point, you'll never advance anywhere through fighting alone. That's where _other skills_ come into play."   
"Other skills?"   
"That's right. Other skills. Anything."   
"Like what?"   
Mousse shrugged. "An Amazon would understand."   
"Well, I'm not an Amazon."   
"It's... hard to explain. Use Cologne as an example. Certainly, she's an incredible fighter. Rumour is that she's mastered forty or fifty _unique_ fighting styles. I can believe it. But you might not appreciate that she's also skilled in a great number   
medicinal arts. I've seen her speak fluently in three or four different languages at one time or another. She apparently has some university education and rumour back home says that she's even qualified to work on firearms."   
Akane's eyes opened wide. "You can't be serious! Why... no one could find the _time_ to learn all that..."   
"Has it ever occurred to you that something like Jusenkyou should have been investigated by now? There should have been scientists and researchers crawling all over it by now."   
"So why not?"   
Mousse shrugged, a small amount of pride finding its way to his surface. "The Amazons forbid it. And the Chinese government doesn't argue."   
If such a thing was possible, Akane's expression grew even more incredulous. "The _Chinese_ government?"   
"They're afraid of us, Akane. More specifically, they're afraid of people like Cologne. There was a brief war some time back. Neither side talks about it now, but things went very badly for the government, I've heard. As I've heard it told, the heavy tanks gave us some brief trouble, but by that time, there weren't any more acting government officials alive to give orders. The bombers were never able to find our village in the first place."   
"Are you... really serious?"   
"Completely, Akane. _That's_ what I mean by 'other skills'."   
"I see. So... Cologne would be involved in a lot of politics?"   
"More than I could ever guess, I'd say."   
"I see..."   
"Why were you asking?"   
Akane smiled. "Just curious, Mousse. Thanks. I think this answers my question."   
"Um.... happy to be of service." 

* * *

Akane's mind was still spinning as she headed back home. But now she felt that she was more in control of the spinning. She didn't even pretend to understand why Cologne had given her this jewel. But she was a little more inclined to believe that the old woman was being somewhat truthful. There was quite possibly a number of pressing reasons why Cologne couldn't hurt Ranma or Shampoo herself. So she was acting through someone else who would be happy to do that?   
Akane wasn't sure if that described her. Sure, Ranma and Shampoo were both annoying, the way they both made fun of her fighting abilities. Was it her fault if she hadn't been taken on a ten-year training trip? Or that she hadn't grown up in an Amazon   
village? They had no right to make fun of her the way they did. Shampoo was nothing but a bimbo who thought she was superior to everyone else and who thought Ranma belonged only to her.   
Akane paused to think about the last part. What did that mean to her? Sure, Ranma was her fiancee. But they certainly weren't in _love_ or anything. All they ever did was fight after he made fun of her. But she didn't actually _hate_ him. He was just... different than what she was used to. If he would only stop making fun of her and being a stuck-up jerk, she might actually be able to make up her mind about him.   
And it was possible that she'd been given a way to do just that. If this... 'Jewel of Power' could actually make her stronger, Ranma wouldn't be able to make fun of her during sparring practice. If it _really_ worked, she'd be the one making fun of him! And then he'd _have_ to respect her.   
And then, maybe she could finally sort out her feelings about him. 

* * *

"Hello Ranma!"   
Ranma smiled as he accepted a cookie from Kasumi. "Hey Kasumi."   
"How was school today?"   
"Ah, same old stuff. Where's 'kane?"   
"She's in the dojo, I think. Is something the matter? She came home from school early today. She said nothing was wrong, but..."   
"Yeah, I heard 'bout that," Ranma agreed, frowning. "I guess I'll ask her."   
"That would be nice." 

"Uncute tomboy," Ranma muttered as he walked slowly towards the dojo. "How come I gotta be the one who asks her what's wrong? She'll pro'bly just hit me for asking."   
As he approached the dojo, he could hear the sounds of someone working out. Akane, no doubt, doing her katas as she often did after school. Honestly, if thought that those pathetic little routines she did were _ever_ going to make her a match for anyone else in Nerima short of Kunou...   
He paused a moment in the dojo's entrance to watch her carefully. You could tell a lot about how a martial artist was feeling by how they trained. Akane tended to destroy more objects when she was angry. She also demanded that he spar with her more when she was angry. And then she got angrier when he did. Or when he didn't. A lose-lose situation for him.   
Akane didn't seem angry right now though. Judging by some of the moves she was executing, she seemed... experimental, he supposed. He'd never seen her do some of those moves before. Easy for him, of course.   
It took several moments before Akane finally realized that he was watching her. "Spar with me?" she asked hopefully.   
"How come you left school early?" he asked, deciding to take the direct route, as well as divert her from the question.   
She shrugged. "I felt like training."   
How about that? Akane had finally decided to put some extra time into training. "Oh."   
"Spar with me?" she repeated.   
She was persistent today. "Nah, I don't feel like it."   
She glared at him. "You scared?"   
He smirked. "Of you? Don't make me laugh!"   
"Then fight me!" she demanded.   
"I don't fight girls," he replied. "You know that."   
"Then turn into a girl for all I care!" she shot back.   
"You can't even hit me as a girl!" Or as a guy, for that matter.   
"I bet you I can today!"   
"That's almost funny. I got _homework_ to do."   
Akane swallowed. "If you beat me, I won't cook for a week."   
Ranma stopped. A small part of his mind wondered why on earth she was so insistent that he spar with her, but the bigger part of his mind suggested he accept an hour of boredom and spare himself a week's agony. "Aw, fine. Just to get a break from your cooking."   
"And if I win, you have to eat my cooking for a week," she added.   
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Let me get some water."   
Akane smiled. "Doesn't matter to me."   
As Ranma jogged out of the dojo, Akane's smile faded to one of nervousness as she looked at the necklace around her neck, complete with the jewel. Would it work like Cologne had said? Not that it would be a big change for Ranma not to eat her cooking. He always seemed to make himself absent in the first place. But if this worked, she would never have a chance of getting Ranma to take her seriously. She was fairly confident that it would make her stronger. Even while practising, she had felt more energetic, more capable, more... powerful than normal. But would it be enough to take Ranma down?   
It _had_ to work. 

Ranma was back in several minutes, in his female form, whistling cheerfully. Akane permitted herself a small smile as she looked at the nonchalant expression on the redhead's face. How nice it must be, to be able to approach a fight like that, knowing that whoever it was wouldn't stand a chance against you. She'd never entirely been able to do that, even against the schoolyard perverts she had once dealt with. It would be more than a little satisfying to wipe that smirk off his face, she decided.   
"Alright, let's get this over with," Ranma prompted, hands in her pocket.   
Akane rushed forwards, vaulting into a jump kick.   
Ranma shifted sideways easily, preparing to throw off Akane's balance with her left foot. It would be more than enough to knock her to the floor, but it wouldn't hurt her.   
That's when Akane kicked her feet out from under her.   
Ranma blinked as she landed flat on her butt. Where had _that_ come from? She'd obviously been daydreaming.   
Akane smiled sweetly. "I'm sorry. Are you okay, Ranma?"   
The redhead's eyes narrowed. "Like _that's_ gonna hurt anybody!" A quick twist, and she was on her feet again, hands no longer in her pockets. "Just try that again!"   
"If you insist."   
Akane lunged again, disdaining the jump kick and instead going for a straight-in flurry of punches.   
The first few, Ranma easily wove around. The next few had to be knocked aside. Then they came too fast to dodge.   
"Oof!"   
Akane clasped her hands behind her back as Ranma sat on the ground once again, rubbing her shoulder gingerly. "Are you okay, Ranma? You seem pretty slow today."   
"Hah hah. Sounds funny comin' from slowpoke like you!"   
Ranma was on her feet again, now in a combat position. He would _not_ be caught off guard a third time, he vowed.   
Akane kept down the feeling of exhilaration she was experiencing at the moment. The jewel was working! But now would be the real test. Would it be enough to take Ranma in all seriousness?   
She didn't have to wait long. This time, Ranma finally attacked. Not all-out, but she actually tried to connect, which was something of a rarity, even as a female.   
For Akane, it was something out of a dream. Even as Ranma's fists headed towards her, she was already one with her thoughts, twisting and blocking the lightning-fast strikes. After a moment, she began to realize that it wasn't happening through luck. She was actually strong and fast enough to do it... the thought made her laugh with delight. The jewel was working!   
Ranma obviously heard her laugh, because the tempo of her punches increased steadily, as did the randomness of them. Yet Akane continued to defend herself, her body almost becoming a blur as she intercepted or dodged each attack.   
Finally, she attacked in return, her right hand giving Ranma a chop on the shoulder that actually knocked her sideways before she rolled into a cartwheel to recover. The redhead flipped back several steps to give some breathing space while she re-evaluated her strategy.   
Akane smiled. "Giving up already?" she taunted.   
She rubbed her shoulder irritably. "Heck no! Takes more'n a little luck to beat Ranma Saotome!"   
Faster still this time. Akane could barely see the punches coming this time. But as soon as she saw them, she was already moving to block them. Frustration began to appear on Ranma's face as her punches and kicks failed to get through.   
After enjoying the situation for several moments, Akane finally drove forwards, grabbing Ranma in an arm lock and tossing him to the floor with a relish.   
"Maybe you should change back to a guy?" she suggested. 

* * *

SEVERAL HOURS LATER... 

"Wow."   
"Oh my."   
"Serves you right, boy."   
"Perhaps you'll respect your fiancee more now."   
The crumpled, barely conscious form shifted slightly. "Shaddup! I ain't beaten yet!"   
At the entrance to the Saotome's room, another figure was looking on with a small smile. "If you want to try again..." Akane invited.   
Soun shuddered. "Akane, dear. Your father is very proud of you. But perhaps you should... let your fiancee recover first."   
She smiled again. "Of course. Get well soon, Ranma."   
"Tomboy!" 

Akane only laughed as she left the room, heading into her own. Ranma's insults weren't what they had been this morning. They didn't even begin to bother her now. She knew him well enough to know that he took losing the way most people took their medication. And he'd just taken an extreme dose of medication. Perhaps 'losing' was too weak a word for it.   
She'd pummeled him, really. No matter what he tried, she had simply intercepted it and dispatched him. She was amazed that he'd endured as long as he had, really. But it had been no match against her newfound strength.   
She glanced at the necklace, carefully concealed beneath her clothing. So Cologne hadn't been lying, after all. The jewel had worked beyond her wildest dreams. Ranma didn't stand a chance against her now.   
So what now? Ranma wouldn't be able to make fun of her anymore. What did she do now? Ranma would challenge her again. And again. He would never win, but that would never cross his mind for a moment. He would never give up...   
She lay back on her bed with a smile. The Saotome legacy, Genma always called it. A Saotome _never_ lost a fight. Delays and setbacks were acceptable. Even temporarily running away could be justified. But defeat simply didn't happen. Ever.   
Ranma was the very personification of that mentality. He was arrogant and overconfident, but no one could ever accuse him of being weak-willed. One of his charms? Or one of his annoying points? Perhaps just one of his little nuances, take it or   
leave it.   
So should she take it? _Could_ she? Did she even want to? Perhaps she should keep the option open. Ranma would surely respect her as a fellow martial artist now. He would _have_ to. Things between them would surely change. Possibly for the better. And if anything else happened after that...   
...then it would happen. 

* * *

end part 1


	2. Part 2

Valley of the Wind Productions presents...   
Power   
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Intrasonic 

> brackets denote Chinese speech 

* * *

Part 2

* * *

"Akane!"   
Akane smiled as she saw her two friends waving to her. Altering her course to intercept them, she was acutely aware of Ranma quietly drifting away towards his own friends. She was still wearing the jewel of power, although it was well concealed under her clothing.   
"Saotome, prepare to die!"   
Out of the corner of her gaze, she watched Ranma flatten Kunou with one punch. Normally her fiancee would have played with the kendoist for a few minutes before knocking him out, but Ranma was clearly still in a bad mood from the day before.   
"The usual," Yuki commented idly.   
Akane nodded, raising her voice. "Yes, Ranma sure is a good fighter! I wonder if _anybody_ could ever beat him?"   
"Aw, be quiet, ya tomboy!" he growled, indicating that he'd heard it full well.   
"Whoa," Sayuri gasped. "Y-you... complimented him!"   
"That sounded like a loaded compliment to me," Yuki pointed out. "What gives, Akane?"   
"I beat him last night in sparring," she replied casually. "He had to be carried upstairs by his father afterwards!"   
They both stared. "You _beat_ him?"   
She shrugged. "Well, I finally decided to get serious about it all, so yes, I beat him."   
Sayuri giggled. "I guess that's why he's so sore at you."   
"He's like that, isn't he?" 

* * *

"So if we compare the square root to the cube root at point i, we can conclude that the second function shows the potential to exceed the first as long as x does not exceed the fifth root of 48. Now if we use an integral approach, the difficulties immediately become apparent..."   
Ranma let the teacher drone with a practiced ease, all the while scribbling furiously on his paper. Various lines and words were chalked down at lightning pace...   
"Saotome?"   
"It's impossible!!!" he declared.   
"Exactly!" the teacher agreed enthusiastically. "The law of odd powers prohibits this comparison from being valid. I'm glad you were paying attention for once-"   
"There's no way she won fair and square!" Ranma continued on heedlessly.   
The teacher's exuberant face was replaced by a worn look. "I knew it was too good to be true..."   
"Just admit it, Ranma!" Akane taunted from across the room. "You lost that sparring mach fair and square! I _pummeled_ you!"   
Ranma's pen snapped in his fingers as he glared at her. "That's what you think! Nobody, but _nobody_ beats Ranma Saotome!"   
"Well _someone_ did," Akane returned calmly.   
The teacher coughed politely. "Saotome. Tendou. In the hall. Now." 

* * *

"This is your fault."   
"My fault? Who started blabbing in the middle of class?"   
"Well, you're the whole who started talkin' across the whole classroom!" Ranma shot back.   
"You brought it on yourself," Akane replied, surprisingly calm.   
"Hmph. Don't think this is the end of things! You may have won the war, but Ranma Saotome will win the battle!"   
"You mixed up 'war' and 'battle'."   
"Tomboy."   
"Stick and stones."   
"Sexless macho-chick who can't cook."   
"But can kick your butt."   
They glared in opposite directions for several long minutes.   
It was Ranma who finally broke the silence. "How'd you do that?"   
"Do what?" Akane inquired innocently.   
"Y'know..."   
"No, I don't. You'll have to tell me what I did."   
"How'd you win?"   
Akane smiled. "Nice to hear you admit it!"   
"I ain't admittin' to nothing!"   
"Okay. Be that way. I won't tell you."   
Ranma grimaced. "Now don't be gettin' like that, 'kane..."   
"Well, why should I telling you anything? All you ever do is insult me."   
"Oh yeah? Stupid tom-"   
Akane smirked as she saw him cut himself off. "_Yes_?"   
Ranma screwed his face up. "Akane, how did you... do that?"   
"Do what?"   
"How'd you win?!?!"   
Akane laughed. This was so much fun... "Well, if you really must know, I've been taking it easy on you all this time. I was so sick of being the best fighter around that I thought I'd appeal to that ego of your's and let you pretend to be best for awhile."   
"Whatever!"   
"Then don't believe me. You're always eating at your fiancee's restaurants, you're never around to see me practising. By the way, you made an agreement to eat my cooking for a week!!!"   
Ranma groaned. 

* * *

"This is unacceptable!"   
"Shaddup, old man!!!"   
Genma looked at his son sternly. "Your fiancee is killing you in the dojo _and_ in the kitchen!"   
Ranma looked up from where he was puking his supper into the toilet. "Well, why don't _you_ try an' stop her!"   
"She's your fiancee. You have to learn how to deal with her."   
"Oh Ranma?" Akane called out sweetly. "Were you going to miss out on sparring?"   
Ranma retched one last time before getting to his feet. "Hah!!! You'll regret that comment, tomboy!!!"   
"That's the spirit, m'boy!" Genma cheered. "Do the Saotome name proud!!!" 

* * *

"You're a disgrace to the Saotome name!"   
"Shaddup, old man!!!"   
"We're having beef teriyaki tomorrow night, Ranma," Akane informed him cheerfully.   
Ranma groaned, being unable to summon the energy to come up with an insult.   
"This mustn't happen a third time," Genma decided. "Tomorrow you must give it everything you've got! The honour of the Saotome clan is at stake!"   
"Shaddup, old man!!! You ain't got none in the first place!" 

One room over, Akane laughed quietly to herself. Ranma really was funny, she had to admit. She wondered how much longer he would persist. He'd held out even longer this time than last night. Her next goal would be to make him stop calling her names, she decided, settling down under her bedcovers.   
So where was she headed with this business? She was certain that even Ranma would calm down after a while and accept that she was a martial artist too. Maybe he'd even respect her? That would be nice, she had to admit.   
She would wait and see. 

* * *

"Time to go to school, Ranma," Akane called out.   
"Ranma isn't going today," Genma replied.   
"Saotome?" Soun asked in surprise.   
Genma nodded. "I've signed him out of class today. He's going to train all day. Clearly his skills are lacking. I must thank you Akane, for pointing this out to me."   
"Oh, anytime," Akane agreed cheerfully. "Have a nice day, Ranma!"   
"Shaddup!!!" grunted Ranma.   
"Put your back into it, boy!" Genma yelled. "When I was your age, I could do twice that all day!"   
Ranma was presently upside down, balancing on the fingers of his left hand. His feet were flat, carefully balancing a plank of wood with a pile of bricks about six feet high. He was presently trying to do an equivalent of a one-handed pushup.   
Akane smiled as she watched Ranma strain to lift the burden. His entire body was literally dripping with sweat. The fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt possibly added to the effect. Maybe she should get a few pictures and sell them to her friends at school...   
"Have a nice day, Akane," Kasumi called out.   
"Thanks."   
"Just... you... wait," Ranma muttered. "Nobody beats... Ranma Saotome! Nobody!"   
"I would have thought so too," Nabiki agreed, a curious look on her face. "Little sister sure seems to have improved. Do you think she's really been holding back all this time?"   
A faint smile crossed Ranma face. "Heh... just wait... till tonight!"   
"You do that," Nabiki agreed, exiting the house as well.   
Genma watched them leave until he was satisfied that they weren't coming back. Alright boy, you know what to do. For the reputation of the Saotome clan!"   
Ranma leapt upwards, flipping and catching the board, along with the bricks. Setting them down, he nodded, leaving the house. 

* * *

It was just another typical day for the waitress of the Nekohanten.   
"Thank-you for coming to Nekohanten," Shampoo said ritualistically, smiling as the pair of customers left a generous tip in their wake.   
She turned away, sighing. If this job wasn't letting her stay near to Ranma, she'd have quit it long ago, no matter what her Great-grandmother said. But the way things stood...   
The door slid open quietly, almost too quietly.   
"Welcome to Nekohanten," Shampoo said, pasting a smile on her face instantly.   
"Hey, Shampoo," Ranma greeted, looking a little worn.   
"Aiya, what Ranma do here? He not in school?"   
"Uh, I skipped school today. Training and all that stuff."   
"Is good," Shampoo approved. Not that her future husband was lacking of course! "What Shampoo do for Ranma?"   
Ranma was looking a little a surprised, but nodded. "Actually, can I talk to the Old Ghoul?"   
"Shampoo go get. Ranma okay? He look like something ca-dog drag in."   
Ranma thanked the deliberate change in animal names. "Uh... long story. That's why I'm in training."   
Shampoo nodded. "You need help, you ask Shampoo?"   
"Uh, sure no problem. But I got it under control!"   
"Is good. Shampoo get Great-grandmother for Ranma."   
Ranma watched her walk away, looking a little confused. Something was wrong... _very_ wrong here...   
"Son-in-Law," Cologne greeted. "I'm surprised to see you here at this time of day."   
Ranma took a deep breath. "Shut up you stupid wrinkled-up piece of rotten mackeral jerky-"   
**WHAM**   
Ranma groaned from where his head had been driven through the floor. Nice to know that not everything had changed... "Ugh... thanks, I needed that."   
"Did you come for anything else?" Cologne inquired casually.   
Ranma extracted himself from the floor, brushing chips of concrete off his face. "Uh, actually yeah. I wanted to talk with you for a few minutes."   
"Well, it's a slow time of day, so I suppose I can spare a few moments for you. Come with me."   
Shampoo watched them go with a rather strange look. There was nothing unusual about Ranma brushing off an impact like that. But he looked rather embarrassed about something... 

* * *

"So what's on your mind, Son-in-Law?" Cologne inquired.   
"Is this the same world I came from?" Ranma asked. "Shampoo's not glomping on to me the moment she sees me, and Akane..."   
"Yes?"   
"Akane's... really strong," Ranma said sheepishly.   
"I find that hard to believe," Cologne opinioned. "Tendou-girl is a far cry from being considered 'strong', Son-in-Law. Not by someone of your calibre."   
"Um... she beat me. Twice."   
Cologne's eyes opened wide. "Seriously?"   
"Uh... yeah. I dunno how, but I can't even touch her now. I thought it was super soba noodles again, but I gave her the antidote before supper last night and it didn't do nothing!"   
"I see," Cologne agreed. "Why don't you give me the details of this?" 

Several minutes later, Ranma had explained everything.   
Cologne nodded sagely. "I see. This is quite unexpected. I imagine you must be a little confused. I must admit, I am also. So you are no doubt hoping I can teach you something that will let you defeat her."   
"Well... if you wouldn't mind..."   
"From what you tell me, no mere technique will do the job. Akane is simply far stronger and faster than you are. You are simply going to have to become better as a whole."   
"You sure?"   
"Quite. I can give some suggestions as to some training exercises, but I suspect your father will have plenty of ideas already."   
Ranma nodded. "Well, I guess a few of 'em worked in the past. Maybe you oughta tell Shampoo to stay clear of Akane..."   
"I will advise her as such," Cologne agreed. "And if I come across anything, I will advise you immediately."   
As soon as the door had shut behind Ranma, a smile crept across Cologne's face. "Most amusing."   
"What so funny, Great-grandmother?" Shampoo wanted to know.   
"You did well, Shampoo. Son-in-Law noticed that you weren't grabbing at him today."   
"Ranma notice?" Shampoo looked surprised.   
"Oh yes. And it seems that things are going just as I planned. Now comes the difficult part. Are you sure you're up for this?"   
Shampoo swallowed. "If it get Ranma, Shampoo do anything."   
"Understand," Cologne emphasized. "This will not 'get' you anything. It will merely give you the chance. Son-in-Law swallowed his pride enough to come asking me for help on a certain matter. You will have to do similar, I warn you."   
The younger amazon swallowed. She wished her Great-grandmother was a little more forthcoming on this 'plan' of hers. As it stood, there were a lot of details she wasn't privy to... "Shampoo do it."   
"Good. Now about your upcoming fight with Akane Tendou..."   
A fight with Akane? "Shampoo beat Violent-girl easy!"   
"Of course," Cologne agreed, her expression neutral. "We'll wait a few days to make sure. Just make sure you pick a fight the proper way." 

* * *

"She didn't have any ideas, but she'll get back to me once she does."   
Genma sighed. "We'll have to make do without her for now. You gave Akane the super-soba antidote?"   
"It didn't do nothin'. She didn't try that again, for sure."   
"Then we'll simply have to train harder. Tendou obviously trained his girl better than I thought. But no one can beat a Saotome in the long run! Let's get training!"   
"You can't get lucky forever, Akane!" Ranma muttered. 

* * *

Akane arrived home in a cheerful mood. It had been a good day. Aside from easily flattening Kunou with one punch, she'd gotten an A on her history test, hit a winning home run for her baseball team and gotten to listen to her friends tease her about Ranma as they always did.   
Normally the last thing was a sore point for her, but she didn't mind it today. Ranma wasn't an over-powered jerk anymore. He was just a second-place contender who couldn't even offer up a good fight to her anymore. And who had to eat her cooking!   
Yes, life was good.   
"Hi 'kane."   
She absent mindedly noted the lack of venom in Ranma's tone of voice. Maybe a day home from school had made him see reason... "Hello, Ranma. How was your day?"   
"Busy," he said, wiping his forehead with a towel. "Pop's a rough trainer."   
Yes, he was definitely being nicer, Akane decided. About time, really. "Well, you're coming to school tomorrow, right? Miss Hinako wanted to know where you were."   
"Ah, I'll go tomorrow maybe. Did you get the homework for today?"   
"Of course."   
"Oh yeah. I guess you weren't busy training. Well, can you show me what it was later on?"   
Akane was almost knocked off her feet. He'd actually _asked_ to spend time with her on homework!!! Amazing enough that he wanted to put some effort into homework. But he actually wanted some _help_ with it! Clearly, his defeat had hammered a little sense into him. "Well, I guess so. Me and Yuki were going to see a movie later on, but I suppose I can spare the time..."   
"That'd be swell," Ranma agreed with a smile, heading upstairs to clean up.   
Akane watched him go with a faint smile. Admittedly, he _did_ have a certainly charm when he wasn't being insulting. It wasn't entirely difficult to understand why so many of her friends were envious of her. Of course Ranma had always been polite to them. But now that he was finally being polite to her...   
Well, there was no sense in getting too hasty, Akane decided quickly, sitting down in an armchair. If Ranma really wasn't in earnest, he'd have to do a little better than that. It wasn't as though she was desperate or anything!   
"I'm home everybody," Nabiki announced. Her immediately heading upstairs made it rather obvious that she wasn't actually expecting a reply to the statement.   
"Hi Nabiki," Akane greeted anyway.   
Nabiki smiled. "You look happy, little sister. What's up?"   
"Nothing. Nothing at all."   
"If you say so. Planning on sparring with Ranma tonight?"   
"Of course."   
Nabiki just smiled and continued upstairs. To say that Akane was a changed person would be an understatement. Whatever was behind her sudden improvement in martial arts had gone beyond just her fighting. If Nabiki didn't know better, she'd have sworn Akane had been replaced by someone else. 

There was a pair of soft-soled shoes at the entrance to the bathroom, but Nabiki pushed the door open anyway, noiselessly positioning herself on the back side of the dividing panel.   
"Been training hard, Saotome?" she inquired.   
A brief choke indicated that Ranma hadn't noticed her presence before. "Nabiki? What are-"   
For a brief moment, Nabiki considered going to the _other_ side to talk, but decided that she wouldn't get a straight word from him that way.   
"Oh come now, Ranma. You must be mistaking me for one of your fiancees." Not that she would have minded getting a good look herself...   
"You sure don't take losing well," she continued.   
Ranma seemed to have gotten over his initial shock. "A martial artist must rise to each and every challenge!" he declared devoutly.   
"Then you've got a lot of rising to do. I don't believe you've even managed to touch my little sister yet, never mind beat her."   
"We'll see," was all he said.   
"We will," she agreed. "Amazing how my little sister has managed to hide her true talent all this time, isn't it?"   
Ranma made a rude noise. "Yeah, whatever."   
In other words, he didn't believe Akane's explanation any more than she did. Perhaps he wasn't a _complete_ dolt. "Why, you sound like you don't believe her!"   
"We'll see," he repeated.   
"Why not? What's to doubt?" Nabiki had a considerable list of reasons why, but she wasn't a martial artist. Had Ranma noticed anything else?   
"She's clumsy."   
"She beat you up."   
"She's just real strong and fast. She's still clumsy."   
Nabiki filled that away for future reference. She didn't quite understand what he meant, but he had a hunch that it would make perfect sense to a seasoned martial artist. "So what are you going to do about it?"   
"Keep training."   
Nabiki laughed quietly as she left the bathroom. This whole business had the makings of something interesting. Amusing, anyway. She would be certain to keep an eye on it from all angles.   
Ranma heard her leave, but didn't say anything. Nabiki was something of an enigma. He knew she wasn't entirely heartless like some people thought. But her priorities were few and extremely focussed. He simply didn't feel like having to dodge her if she tried to interfere with him. He certainly did enough of that as it was.   
He was almost positive that Akane was lying about her newfound talent. The day she ever developed that kind of talent would be the day he started chasing after Kodachi. Certainly Akane was powerful. But she seemed to have absolutely no skill or precision behind her power. Last night, she hadn't been able to anticipate a single one of his attacks. Only her sheer speed and strength had enabled her to defend herself. She'd gotten her hand on some source of power and it was a massive one. So strong that she could beat him effortlessly even with his massive skill advantage. So where had it come from?   
He meant to find out. Tonight he would test his theory... 

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Ranma was whistling cheerfully as he entered the kitchen. There was a dismal lack of Kasumi's presence, he noted mournfully. Instead, there was an overwhelming amount of Akane's presence.   
He sucked in his breath and prepared to initiate his plan. "Yo 'kane. What's up?"   
She turned to greet him, her hands still methodically adding ingredients. "Hi Ranma. Just making supper."   
He nodded. "What are you makin'?"   
"Egg rolls and rice balls."   
Ranma noted a distinct lack of _anything_ solid in the mixing bowl. "T-that's cool," he agreed. "Uh... can I help you with anything?"   
Akane's mind briefly warred with how to take that question. Was he implying... or was he just trying to be helpful? How to reply, how to reply...   
"Well, I need the vegetables chopped."   
"Sure, just leave it to me," he volunteered quickly, grabbing a knife and beginning to slice the vegetables. That was one less thing for Akane to mess up doing. This way he wouldn't have to munch on any wood chips.   
Yes, Akane decided. Ranma was just being nice to her for a change. That was all. About time, really. 

* * *

Even as she noted Ranma engaging Akane in conversation, Nabiki was heading upstairs quietly. Ranma was acting... different. Polite for starters. Tactful, diplomatic, and agreeable were other notable things. Ranma generally wasn't any of them. And he was doing a halfway decent job of it too.   
Pushing open the door to Ranma and his father's room, she scanned the room in one efficient sweep. It was her three-favorite things about martial artists, really. The best thing was that the young males tended to be absolutely gorgeous to look at. The second best was that they tended to have predictable mindsets. The third-best was that they lived simply, therefore any changes were easy to pick up on...   
Nabiki's trained eye spotted it almost immediately. Completely innocent anywhere else, it stuck out like a sore thumb in _this_ room. A book. A _thick_ book. With no pictures inside, she added rather uncharitably.   
The title told her everything she needed to know. "'Reverse Psychology and Deception for Dummies'," she read with a smirk. Not a bad book, really. One had to wonder if there was anything that the American series didn't cover. She'd read it about a year ago herself. She replaced the book, leaving the room again.   
This was really getting interesting, she decided. She would have to keep tabs on everything. 

* * *

"This reminds me of a meal Pop taught me to make when we were still training," Ranma was saying.   
Akane raised an eyebrow. "You made this when you were training?"   
"Well, not quite the same. We'd use bird's eggs and stuff, 'cuz that was all we really could find. But it was pretty good. It was really nice after a few weeks of nothin' but rice."   
"Did you make it yourself?"   
"Oh yeah. Pop was always a lazy bum. Soon's I was able, he had me do all the cookin' for both of us."   
Kasumi had always done the cooking for the family, Akane idly reflected. Nabiki had always had her head in the books, while Akane had always spent her free time in the dojo... it hadn't done much for her cooking skills, she silently admitted.   
"You... were a good cook?" she hesitantly inquired.   
"Well... I dunno." He laughed. "Mosta the time, I didn't really care what anything tasted like. I was so hungry that I woulda eaten dirt if I thought it would help!"   
Akane had to laugh a little. Ranma's good mood was slightly infectious, maybe. "Is that why you're always in such a rush to eat now?"   
"Well, a martial artist's gotta take advantage of every opportunity," Ranma stoutly declared.   
She frowned inwardly. Was her food _that_ bad? That he rated it at the same level as dirt? Was he trying to imply that?   
"Here's y'go," Ranma offered, pushing the veggy-ladden cutting board towards her.   
"Uh, thanks," Akane replied, noting that the vegetables were perfectly lined up, as though he hadn't even touched them while cutting them.   
"Anything else I can do?" Ranma asked hesitantly.   
"Well... can you pack these rice balls?"   
"No prob. Lemme at 'em."   
Akane shifted sideways, knocking over a bottle. "Argh!"   
Ranma grabbed a cloth and started mopping the dark liquid up. "H-hey, no problem."   
"But I _need_ soy sauce for this meal!"   
Ranma briefly appeared at a loss as he moved to dispose of the empty bottle. Finally, he nodded. "Well..." he opened up the cupboard. "Um... looks like there's a second bottle here!"   
Akane took the bottle happily. "Great! Looks like this meal won't be a disaster after all!"   
Ranma laughed weakly as he tossed out the empty bottle, labeled 'Pure Maple Syrup'. "Y-yeah, I guess not!" 

* * *

By the time dinner was over, tension was in the air.   
"That was an... interesting meal, Akane," Soun ventured.   
"I think it was pretty good," Ranma said firmly.   
Akane felt her heart skip a beat. Ranma had actually _complimented_ her cooking! Would wonders never cease? "You think so?"   
"Sure," he agreed, pointing to his completely clean plate. "Hey Pop, aren't you gonna finish your meal?"   
"I... believe I'm full," Genma protested weakly. "But a lovely dinner, Akane."   
"Thank-you," she replied cheerfully. "I worked really hard to make it. Ranma even helped a little."   
"My, my," Nabiki observed sarcastically. "What wonders true love can work on a meal, hmm?"   
Akane flushed deep red at that comment, but miraculously, Ranma actually kept his composure.   
"Hmph, what're you talking about Nabiki? Just a little team work, you know. Just because you never try it..."   
Nabiki merely smiled. "That must be it, Saotome. Well, keep up the _teamwork_, you two."   
"Well, good meal. You wanna spar a little, Akane?"   
Akane deliberated briefly before nodding. "Okay. Just let me clean things up here first."   
"No prob. Meet you in the dojo in fifteen minutes." 

* * *

Once in his room, Ranma shut the door and dug out his book, entitled 'The Principles of Reverse Psychology and Deception'. Flipping open the book to chapter 4, he quickly looked over the material. "It is important to not act over-friendly to target to the point where they suspect you of insincerity. The occasional overlooking is to be expected on your part..."   
So he had decided not to help Akane clean up after dinner. Well, he was following the book as best as he could, Ranma decided, stuffing the book under his pack for safe keeping. It wouldn't do for anyone to get wind that he might have... other reasons for acting friendly. Not that he actually _hated_ Akane or anything, of course. But there was a time for work, a time for play, and a time for martial arts. And he'd always had his priorities straight. 

* * *

Akane was already warming up in the dojo when Ranma quietly approached. He watched her go through some warm-ups with a critical eye. Basic routines. The type he'd always seen her doing in the past. He'd given up on them at the age of nine in favor of more difficult ones. She was doing them quickly, but she lacked the smoothness that should have been inherent with such 'skill'.   
Without disturbing her, he casually entered the dojo, continuing to watch her forms. He couldn't believe she hadn't noticed him. When their positions were reversed, he was always able to tell of her approach before he could even see her. One of the more subtle skills a martial artist learned over time: Your eyes should only be secondary when it came to interpreting your surroundings.   
Akane finally noticed him, barely recovering from the middle of her kata as a brief instant of shock registered on her face. She smiled at him. "You sure you want bother with this?"   
Ranma gritted his teeth before calming himself. A martial artist had maintain his calm and control at all times. "Hah! You suddenly chickening out?"   
Akane didn't even flinch. "Well, if you want it that way. But I'm not going to hold back this time!" She bowed towards him.   
"That's the way I like it," he agreed, bowing in return.   
Akane got into a combat stance, arms held low, but tensed to react to anything that was leveled against her.   
Ranma's stance was considerably more casual in nature, belying the calculating gaze he was giving Akane. Shifting his stance slightly sideways, he lunged sideways, attacking on her left side. Even as she moved to intercept, he stopped short, using all his strength to reverse his direction. His hair blew back as her shorter arm length prevented her fist from connecting with his face. Even as Ranma's fist lashed out in response, Akane had already withdrawn her arm, and was using it to knock aside his punch.   
Ranma leapt straight up, dodging her next punch by scant inches. Flipping, he pushed himself off a ceiling support, landing to her right, his foot already sweeping out to trip her up. Akane simply reached down and grabbed his foot before it could connect.   
With a hard yank, Ranma felt himself tossed across the room to impact the wall. Rolling, he got to his feet again, smirking. He didn't think he'd win this match. But Akane was mistaken if she thought things were going to stay that way forever... 

* * *

"You're beyond pathetic, boy."   
"Shaddup, old man!!!"   
"Thanks for the sparring match, Ranma," Akane said with a smile, heading towards her room.   
Ranma just grunted, letting the door close. His entire body was screaming in pain right now, courtesy of the person who had just left the room.   
"You're a disgrace to the-"   
Ranma clapped a hand over his father's mouth, his voice lowering to a whisper. "Heh. You think so, pop? I found out what I need to know. You just wait. Akane won't be like that for much longer."   
Genma raised an eyebrow, also whispering. "Really? You know why she's so strong?"   
Ranma shook his head. "I dunno why. But I know that she's lying about being as good as she is. She still fights like she always has. She just has more power. I can still sucker her into doing anything I want. She's just so strong and fast that she can stop me anyway."   
"Then you can't give up, boy," Genma hissed. "Anything-Goes, remember that! If you can't beat her normally, then we'll just have to cheat our way to victory!"   
"You're pathetic, old man. All I gotta do is stop whatever's makin' her strong, right?"   
"That's right, boy! Do your worst!"   
Ranma rubbed his bruised shoulder. Akane hadn't held back at all, he guessed. It might take a whole day before he was in fighting shape again. But he healed quickly. And he would be back. As many times as it took. 

* * *

Akane lay back in her bed. She could almost get used to this, she decided with a smile of contentment. It was so nice to finally fight Ranma on his level. No more of his teasing and taunting. He was even being nice to her now, what with helping her with cooking and not calling her names anymore. It was something that was overdue, and now that it had finally come...   
A knock sounded at the door.   
Akane sat up on her head. "Come in."   
Nabiki quietly entered the room, eying Akane with interest. "Well, well, you'd think Ranma would get tired of that eventually, hmm?"   
A shrug. "He's stubborn, that's all. I went all out tonight. Maybe he'll give up now."   
"You want him to give up?" Nabiki inquired. "Most girls would kill for a chance to get to 'spar' with him."   
Akane flushed slightly. "You know there's absolutely _nothing_ like _that_ going on!"   
"True, quite true. So why isn't there?"   
Akane flushed even more. "_What_ are you implying?"   
"Nothing at all. But even I've noticed that you two seem to be hitting it off lately."   
"That's just because he's stopped acting like a jerk."   
"I wonder why that is?" Nabiki mused.   
"Because he's finally showing a little respect, that's why."   
"Respect? Is that all? I think... he seemed unusually helpful at suppertime. Sure, he should have helped you with the dishes too, but he's only male, right?"   
Akane looked rather blank. "What are you implying?"   
Nabiki shrugged. "Nothing at all. But Ranma's the laziest person in the world in anything except martial arts, right? It sure is nice of him to be so helpful to you."   
"_What_ are you implying?"   
Nabiki shrugged. "That's for you to decide, I think. You have to admit that he's absolutely gorgeous, right? And I think he's demonstrated that he can be polite when he _wants_ to, right? You've got dibs on him because of the engagement business. Which means that you've got every excuse to try on the shoe with him."   
Akane blushed furiously. "It's not like that at all!"   
Nabiki chuckled as she left the room. "I know that. So why not?"   
Akane watched the door close in bewilderment. She couldn't believe her sister had actually suggested that!   
Just the same... the Ranma that had been around the house lately was a considerable improvement over the old one. Why was that? He'd always been chasing Shampoo and Ukyou before. Probably because they'd been better martial artists than her. But now that she was better...   
Was it possible that he _was_ attracted to her? She wouldn't lie and claim that she'd never entertained any thoughts about him, but they had always been nullified by how he acted towards her. But this new, polite, helpful Ranma...   
She lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Maybe it was worth a try after all. Maybe his interest in her right now was simply on account of her newfound skill. But Ranma could beat his other fiancées. But they were always nice to him, which probably encouraged Ranma. If she was nice to him... coupled with her being better than him...   
She let a small smile cross her face. Maybe it could work. The way things had been lately, it seemed worth the effort. She would give it a try tomorrow.   
She would have to do a few things first. There was the issue of his fiancées. It wouldn't do to have them interfering. Ukyou probably wouldn't be much of a problem, since it was Ranma who usually went looking for her. Ranma seemed not to like Kodachi quite as much. But Shampoo... the way she always seemed to come looking for Ranma...   
Akane's fists briefly clenched. She would have to _explain_ things to Shampoo tomorrow... 

* * *

end part 2


	3. Part 3

Valley of the Wind Productions presents...   
Power   
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Intrasonic 

> brackets denote Chinese speech 

* * *

Part 3 

* * *

"Thank-you for buying Cat Cafe."   
Shampoo accepted the generous tip given to her by the house's owner, deliberately ignoring the murderous glare the owner's girlfriend was giving her. Was it her fault that she was so much better-looking? If the girlfriend wanted to go through a lifetime of Amazon training, she was welcome to it. But for her, physical fitness was only a small benefit of the lifestyle she had been born into.   
Unburdened of her late afternoon delivery, it was a simple matter for her to toss her bike into the air, leaping up after it. A quick twist, and the bike had been set upon the fence, with her as its rider, effortlessly maintaining the required balance. Travelling by fence-top was faster and eliminated the danger posed by numerous stray water sources. It was also a small source of practice during her otherwise mundane workday.   
Despite her calm and carefree appearance, she was anything but. She had deliberately taken a slightly longer route back to the restaurant. One that happened to take her close to Furinken High School, incidentally. But for once, she wasn't looking for her beloved. Certainly it would nice to see him. To admire his beautifully sculpted body with its graceful yet impossibly rugged nature. To gaze upon his face, one that hadn't a care in the entire world. One that extruded an air of confidence that dictated that no matter what opposition he went up against, whether he _would_ triumph would never be an issue, only the matter of _when_ being a variable.   
But she resigned herself to delaying that for another time. Today, she was looking for someone else entirely. She still hadn't understood why her Great-grandmother had grilled her last night on the codes of the Amazon warrior.   
An Amazon does not run away. An Amazon does not admit defeat. An Amazon does not surrender. An Amazon never yields to an inferior. An Amazon fights to her last breath.   
It was the code that she had grown up on. She believed and lived it with all her heart. And she _had_ been tested on occasion. Amazon-to-Amazon fighting rarely went to such extreme, but the wilderness of China had brought her close enough to dying on occasion before, especially when she was younger and more brash. She was forced to admit that while she was probably no less heedless now, she was much more capable of taking care of herself.   
Did her Great-grandmother doubt her now? Shampoo honestly wasn't sure. She loved her Great-grandmother with all her heart, and didn't doubt the return of that love. But she was sometimes forced to admit that the workings and the schemes of the old woman's mind were beyond her. There had been numerous instances in the past where Cologne had deliberately gone against her. Shampoo had matured from those instances, and could now admit that they had been in her best interests. But they were _never_ predictable. Like now, perhaps.   
Which was why she was looking for Akane Tendou. Why she was supposed to encourage the girl to get in a fight was beyond her. Did her Great-grandmother doubt her to the point where she thought even _Akane_ could beat her? Shampoo shook her head, absent-mindedly turning the fence corner with a graceful ease that defied what a bicycle was ever meant to do. If that was all Cologne was worried about, Shampoo would set her mind at rest soon enough.   
As soon as she happened to run into Akane, anyway. 

* * *

"See? You shouldn't have missed yesterday's classes."   
"Well, I had to train!"   
"Is that all you think about?" Akane asked in disbelief. "There's lots of things besides training, you know."   
Ranma shrugged. "I had to train."   
Akane bit her tongue. Honestly, Ranma was so stubborn sometimes. Why couldn't he just accept his defeat? He could beat everybody else, couldn't he? Was it that hard for him to accept that there was one person who was capable of beating him?   
Ranma sucked in a breath. "Hey, Akane?"   
"Yes?"   
"I was wonderin'-"   
"Hey Akane!"   
Akane turned to face one of her friends. "Yuki?"   
"You still want to go see the movie?"   
Akane's face registered mild surprise. "I forgot about that!"   
"Well? Are you coming? The movie starts in ten minutes."   
Akane glanced at Ranma. "Catch up with you later?"   
"Uh... sure, no prob," he agreed. "Catch ya later."   
"You can come watch it with us if you want," Yuki invited. "Right, Akane?"   
Akane felt her throat close up as she struggled to come up with a reply. She knew that her friend was deliberately trying to set something up.   
Ranma was already answering. "T-that's okay, Yuki. I gotta get home for training. Uh... enjoy the movie."   
"Well, okay," Yuki agreed, still smiling. "Don't train too hard, right?"   
Ranma waved goodbye as he headed back to the dojo.   
"I can't believe you!" Yuki exclaimed in disbelief. "You could've had the cutest guy in the world escorting you to the movies! But you went silent on me!"   
"It's nothing like that!" Akane protested. "Besides, he hates those kind of movies! All he likes are martial arts movies!"   
"It's different when a guy sees a romantic movie with his girlfriend! It's a perfect excuse to cuddle up together!"   
Akane flushed. "We're not like that! Just because he's finally started acting civil to me..."   
"So why can't you act civil and invite him to a movie?"   
"Give it up, Yuki. We'll be late if we don't get moving. I don't want to get stuck with a bad seat." 

* * *

"Thank-you for buying Cat Cafe."   
Shampoo accepted the generous tip given to her by the apartment's owner, expressing hope that he would enjoy his supper. As the door closed before her, she was already leaving at a brisk pace. Disdaining the slowness of the elevator, she instead   
exited at the nearest fire escape and jumped the four stories down to land beside her bike.   
Over the handlebars of her bike, a sign was draped over it, reading, "Belong to Shampoo". An effective anti-theft deterrent, really. Anybody who even remotely knew of her would think twice before laying a finger on something that belonged to an   
Amazon.   
It irked her that she hadn't yet found Akane. How was she supposed to pick a fight with someone she couldn't even find? It was not unlike her experiences when chasing Ranma's female form at first. The redhead and her panda's trail would disappear for days on end. In retrospect, she knew it was because they had managed to find hot water, but it had been incredibly confusing for her at the time. So where was Akane now?   
Shaking her head, she headed back to the Nekohanten, hoping that the next delivery would yield fruit for her search. 

* * *

"That was _soooo_ romantic!"   
"I wish I had a boyfriend like that."   
"It doesn't happen in real life. That's why we have to go to movies to see it."   
"I bet Ranma would come close..."   
Akane burst out laughing after a moment.   
Yuki looked mystified. "What?"   
Akane was still giggling. "The idea of Ranma... doing _that_!"   
"What's so strange about it? Just imagine it... 'Akane, my love, my soul could never hope to live apart from your sweet presence...'"   
"Whatever!" Akane mocked. "It would probably sound a little more like, 'Uh, Akane, you're um, pretty swell and all...'"   
Both girls laughed at her imitation of Ranma's voice.   
"Just the same, wouldn't you love to hear that?"   
"I don't know. Maybe I'll stick to going to movies."   
"You're just saying that because he hasn't said it yet. So when are you and Ranma going to go on your first _real_ date?"   
"Maybe never."   
"You can't fool me. You're thinking about it, aren't you?"   
Akane flushed a little. "Maybe. But there's no sense in rushing things. He's been acting really nice. I'm not going to hurry things up. If it's good, then it's good."   
"You shouldn't act too timid. What with those other fiancees..."   
Akane smiled. "That reminds me. I've got to deal with Shampoo."   
"With _her_? But she'll..." Yuki trailed off.   
"Ranma can beat her. And I can beat Ranma," Akane reminded her. "Once she understands who's on top, I won't have anybody interfering with me."   
"You mean, with you _and_ Ranma, right?"   
Akane smiled thinly. "You know what I mean."   
"Speak of the devil..." Yuki whispered, pointing.   
Akane looked down the street, her eyes narrowing. "Shampoo..."   
"What's she doing down this way? I didn't think the Nekohanten delivered in this part of town."   
"Well, no time like the present," Akane decided, picking up a stray rock on the ground. "I think it's time to _deliver_ something to the Nekohanten..."   
With that, she wound up and heaved the rock at the bicycle riding Amazon. It was a good throw, reminiscent of her track-record in baseball. With an audible thump, it bounced off Shampoo's head, knocking both her and her bike for a loop.   
Shampoo was barely able to grab the edge of the fence, swinging her and her bike around to land on the dry ground. By the time she had landed, she was already looking around for the source of the rock.   
Akane smiled to Yuki. "See you tomorrow at school?"   
Yuki was looking a little nervous. "Uh... yeah. Tomorrow."   
"Hey, some things you just have to do if you want some peace and quiet, right?"   
The other girl smiled at that. "Some peace and quiet with _Ranma_, you mean."   
"You know what I mean."   
The girl nodded, turning off. "Tomorrow. Have fun. Don't be too rough with her, right?"   
Akane didn't reply as she approached the Amazon. It was payback time. 

* * *

The instant the rock hit her in the head, Shampoo had already begun to react. The first concern was to avoid falling into the drainage ditch and getting wet. A firm hold on the fence top let her swing herself around, her feet holding the bike so that she didn't have trouble retrieving it later on.   
Touching down on the ground, she noticed the rock out of the corner of her eye. Rather large. Whoever had displayed the nerve to throw such a rock... she'd pound their face into the concrete and maybe break the arm they'd used to throw it too!   
The thrower hadn't made any secret of who they were. Shampoo's gaze quickly focussed on another girl coming towards her with a smirk on her face. Akane. Shampoo blinked to make sure that she wasn't mistaken. Akane had just picked a fight   
with _her_?   
No matter, Shampoo decided. At least it saved her the trouble of picking a fight with Akane. It was really too bad for Akane that an Amazon _never_ ran away from a fight.   
"Violent-girl have good reason before Shampoo make eat ground?"   
Akane laughed quietly. "I was just a little tired of seeing your ugly face around town, that's all. And I think that Ranma needs a break from you. Good enough for you?"   
Yes, Akane was definitely picking a fight, Shampoo decided, cracking her knuckles. "Violent-girl have bad memory? She no touch Shampoo last time. She lucky Ranma save her."   
Akane looked around. "Oh dear, it looks like Ranma isn't around. Too bad for you, because that means he won't be able to save you. Before I knock you senseless, just let me warn you that I won't be so nice if you come bothering me or Ranma a second   
time."   
Shampoo briefly looked around, but saw no one nearby to back Akane up. "Violent-girl's head in clouds? Shampoo bring down to ground again."   
Akane just laughed. "Then just try it, you bimbo."   
Well, that made it official.   
Akane wasn't even prepared for the attack. Shampoo lunged forwards, fist already aiming for Akane's face. Akane's eyes opened wide in surprise.   
Then Shampoo felt an impact in her stomach, knocking her sideways. Rolling, she got to her feet in time to see Akane withdraw her fist. How had... she stood up, deciding that it was time to take the challenge seriously. Akane shouldn't have gotten even _one_ hit in, let alone that had knocked her down.   
"Tsk, tsk," Akane taunted. "You're really slow today, Shampoo? Something wrong?"   
"Violent-girl not walk for week when Shampoo done with!"   
"Just try it, Amazon!"   
Shampoo tried. 

* * *

**SMASH**   
Shampoo gagged as she staggered to her feet again. She didn't understand what was happening. The stupid, slow, temperamental girl that she had always been able to dance circles around was... winning.   
_An Amazon does not admit defeat._   
No, Akane was not winning. She merely had the advantage right now, Shampoo corrected, facing off her opponent. Her entire body was screaming in pain now. Several gouges and cracks in the pavement attested as to the reasons.   
"Still standing?" Akane laughed.   
"You never beat Shampoo!"   
"That's what I'm doing now, isn't-"   
Even while Akane had been replying, Shampoo had taken advantage of the distraction. Ignoring the protests her body sent her brain, she darted forwards. Skirting around just outside Akane's reach, she flipped forwards, planting her hands on the ground and using the leverage to whip her leg around.   
Akane, who had moved her gaze to follow Shampoo's hands, never saw the kick coming for her head. It struck solidly, knocking her back a step. But that was it.   
She shook her head and regarded the Amazon with distaste. "Is that the best you can do? That didn't even hurt a bit!"   
Shampoo allowed herself to feel a small amount of worry. Even someone like Ranma would have been sent reeling from such a kick. But Akane had only been knocked back a step. How on Earth...   
"Give it up before I really have to hurt you," Akane suggested.   
_An Amazon does not surrender._   
"Shampoo not beat yet!"   
"I'm getting bored of this," Akane decided. "Time to put you down for good!"   
Shampoo never even had a chance to dodge. In the blink on an eye, Akane had crossed the distance between them and dealt a hard blow across Shampoo's face that sent the Amazon reeling.   
Shampoo got to her feet again, only to receive another hit to the stomach that staggered her backwards. Another hit to the shoulder. Her body was screaming in pain. How was Akane so fast and strong? An uppercut to the chin. It wasn't possible...   
_An Amazon does not yield to an inferior._   
The next blow struck her just above the chest, knocking her right off her feet, hard enough for her to leave an impression in the wall behind her. Shampoo began to slump to the ground, only sheer will enabling her to stop the descent and stand up again, using the wall for support.   
Akane closed the distance between them, looking the Amazon in the face, her expression clearly mocking. "Well? Not so smart now, are you? Ready to give up yet?"   
Shampoo could taste blood in her mouth. She swallowed, her jaw aching beyond description, yet only a shadow of what the rest of her body was feeling. Her vision was getting blurry...   
Akane's left hand pinned Shampoo against the wall by her neck. "_Well?_ Say 'Akane, I give up'. Go ahead... say it."   
_An Amazon fights to her last breath._   
Shampoo tried to make her mouth work, but it didn't want to respond to her demands. Her entire body was in a similar state.   
"I can't hear anything," Akane growled, drawing back her right hand in a fist.   
Finally, her mouth obeyed her commands. Taking a deep breath, Shampoo opened her mouth.   
Akane recoiled as something wet splashed over her face. Touching it gingerly, her hand came away red. That... Amazon had just spit _blood_ on her, she realized, her face growing red.   
Shampoo smiled mockingly, ignoring the pain the motion ignited in her. "Am-zon... ne-ver... su-ren-der..."   
"Be that way," Akane agreed, her right fist beginning to move...   
Mercifully, the last spike of pain that Shampoo felt also brought darkness with it.   
Akane sighed in mock-disappointment, letting the body slump to the ground. "Not so tough now, are you, you stupid bimbo?"   
Without another word, she turned and left for home, pausing only to wipe her face clean. Now that Shampoo had gotten the message, she would be free to take things with Ranma at her own pace. Things were just peachy these days, she decided. 

Even as she rounded the corner, a small figure landed noiselessly on the ground next to Shampoo. Looking the unconscious and bleeding girl over with a careful eye, a grunt of satisfaction was emitted.   
"Well done, Great-granddaughter. Well done, indeed."   
Without another word, Cologne hefted Shampoo's inert form over her shoulder and began to head back to the restaurant. 

* * *

"I'm home!"   
"Hello, Akane," Kasumi greeted. "How was the movie?"   
"It was really good. By the way, I cut myself today and got some blood on my blouse."   
"Oh my," Kasumi observed, taking Akane's jacket. "Are you okay?"   
"I'm fine," Akane assured her older sister.   
"Nasty cut, I'd say," Nabiki observed, suddenly behind and looking at the blood stain on Akane's school uniform. "What did you do? Lean on a knife?"   
"None of your business."   
"You've got some blood on your face too," Nabiki pointed out.   
Akane's eyes opened wide as she quickly wiped her face.   
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Ah ha! So there _was_ blood on your face, I see."   
Akane realized that her sleeve had come up dry. "Why you-"   
"So who'd you beat up?"   
"That's none of-" Akane's eyes narrowed as she saw her sister's widening smile. "I mean, what makes you think that I-"   
"I thought so. So who'd you beat up? Shampoo?"   
"I didn't-"   
"I thought so."   
Akane glared at Nabiki. "Do you mind?!?"   
"I'm just asking how your day went, little sister," Nabiki protested innocently. "Are you telling me that you're _ashamed_ or something...?"   
"NO!!!" 

* * *

NO!!! >   
Cologne regarded the surprisingly defiant individual. No, _what_? >   
The bruised and ragged figure in the bed regarded her stonily. No, you will _not_ tell Ranma!!! >   
Why not? >   
Shampoo's fists clenched, accidentally shattering the cup of juice she had been drinking. Because I'd sooner DIE than let him see me like this! >   
Tsk, tsk. So you lost miserably to little Akane Tendou. What's so bad about that? >   
Cologne ducked as the remnants of the glass flew over her head to shatter further against the far wall.   
I'll kill her! I'll tear her limb from limb! >   
Cologne shook her head. But why? You weren't this mad before you left to chase after Ranma's female form. >   
That was different! He-she... was a good fighter! But Akane... >   
What about her? >   
The life seemed to seep from Shampoo as she slumped down under her bedcovers, all her injuries complaining anew to her. How can I face Ranma after this? Me, a proud Amazon warrior, defeated by that little... _upstart_.>   
Cologne sighed, laying a hand on Shampoo's arm, careful not to touch any of the bandages. "Come now, Great-granddaughter. I watched you face down Akane with resolve that would make our ancestors proud. To the very end, you refused to back down. Where is that determination now?"   
Shampoo said nothing.   
"Do you love Ranma?" Cologne asked.   
A nod.   
"What do you love about him?"   
"Everything."   
"_Everything_? Even though he's an insensitive jerk who doesn't care about others?"   
"_THAT A LIE!!!_"   
Cologne smirked. "Prove it. I'm going to let Ranma know about this. If he's as you seem to think..."   
Shampoo glowered. "Great-grandmother wrong! Ranma very nice!"   
"Well, since you seem so sure of it, see you later."   
"WAIT!!!"   
Too late, Cologne had already left the room. Shampoo sunk down even further, face already beginning to burn with shame. She would kill her Great-grandmother for this. She couldn't even move out of the bed right now. Her hair was still matted with blood and her entire body was lined with gashes and bruises, each one aching to the point where she couldn't even move. Apparently she had a few fractures in her legs, so she didn't dare try to walk anywhere. And she had been completely undressed to tend to the wounds, so there was no way she could leave the restaurant. And to have Ranma see her this way...   
She would make her Great-grandmother pay for this, she vowed. 

* * *

The sign to the bathroom door had been flipped to indicate occupancy, but Nabiki pushed the door open anyway, noiselessly positioning herself on the back side of the dividing panel.   
"Still been training hard, Saotome?" she inquired.   
A brief choke indicated that Ranma hadn't noticed her presence before. "Nabiki? What are-"   
She shut the door behind her. "You certainly seem to be putting a lot of time in training, you know."   
"I already told you! A martial artist-"   
"-must rise to every challenge, I know," she agreed. "You told me that already. But I seem to get the impression that you're trying to get on my little sister's good side. Why, you're so polite that I'd swear the real Ranma's been replaced by his good-   
twin."   
"Har har. None of your business."   
"But you _have_ been rather... nice to Akane lately, haven't you?"   
"So? What if I have? Just actin' polite."   
"Of course. That must be it."   
**SPLASH**   
"Hey! What are ya' doing?!"   
Nabiki raised an eyebrow as the sounds of commotion filtered through the dividing wall. What was going on?   
"Good evening, Son-in-Law. I'm not disturbing anything, I hope?"   
"Do you _mind_?!? I'm havin' a bath!!!"   
Nabiki's face screwed up in a strange smile. My, but this was looking interesting...   
"I can see that much."   
"Well, GET LOST!!!"   
Nabiki pushed aside the screen, entering the bath portion of the room. "Why, hello Cologne. Nice to see you."   
"Hey!" Ranma protested, immediately trying to sink even lower into the tub.   
"Nice to see you too, Nabiki Tendou. I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"   
"Darn right you were!" Ranma growled.   
Nabiki nodded. "He's right, you know. Ranma and I have been having a secret affair for some time now. It seems that the only time we can be alone together is when he has a bath."   
Ranma's eyes shot open in disbelief. "Wha-HEY!!!"   
"Well, I can't say I blame you," Cologne agreed soberly. "He's certainly a... well-built young man. I wish you two the best."   
"Now just a darn minute here-"   
Nabiki kept her expression neutral. "Thank-you. I think it could work. But honestly, Ranma. What's she doing here? Have you been seeing her behind my back?!"   
Ranma's face began to take on a sick shade of green.   
Cologne took no notice. "Well, my Great-granddaughter has said that she doesn't mind sharing him..."   
Ranma began to sink into the water, prompting both females to burst out laughing at him.   
"You're such a tease, Ranma," Nabiki mocked.   
"Indeed you are, Son-in-law," Cologne cackled.   
Ranma recovered enough to leap out of the tub and wrap his towel around himself. He glared daggers at them both. "Do you two mind?"   
"I won't keep you long," Cologne assured him. "I simply wanted to ask a favor of you, that's all."   
"A favor?" Ranma looked at her as if she'd grown a second and third head.   
"Yes, a favor. Put simply, since you seem to be on such good terms with Akane Tendou, I was wondering if you would talk to her for me. I don't quite approve of her abusing my Great-granddaughter as such."   
"What?"   
"Akane beat Shampoo up today," Nabiki filled in.   
Cologne nodded. "I don't mind some friendly fighting between fellow martial artists, but one has to draw the line somewhere."   
Ranma tensed up. "Akane... beat up Shampoo?"   
"And for once, my Great-granddaughter didn't start the fight," Cologne confirmed grimly.   
"Is... Shampoo okay?"   
"Well... I'm afraid that Akane worked her over rather... _severely_."   
Ranma's expression looked rather scared. Obviously, he fully remembered how well he'd done against Akane. "Oh man... is Shampoo gonna be okay?"   
"She should be alright in a few days."   
"A few _days_?!?"   
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "I thought you martial artists always healed overnight or something like that?"   
"We _DO!!!_" Ranma exclaimed. "How bad did Akane..."   
Cologne looked a little downcast. "I'm afraid that my Great-granddaughter never was the type to stay down after being hit..."   
A rush of wind was all that Nabiki saw as Ranma rushed out the bathroom door. A moment of silence ensued between the two remaining occupants of the bathroom.   
"I didn't realize that he would go look for Akane so quickly," Cologne observed in surprise.   
"Go figure," Nabiki agreed. "He sure took that hard."   
The slamming of the front door informed them otherwise.   
"Oh dear," Cologne muttered. "Maybe he's not going after Akane after all. I don't think Shampoo is going to be in the mood for company... until later, Tendou."   
"See you around," Nabiki agreed, eyes narrowing. Did Cologne take her for an naïve idiot? If there was anything she'd learned about the old Amazon, it was that _nothing_ ever surprised her. And no mention about a Kiss of Death?   
She frowned, leaving the bathroom. Cologne requesting protection for Shampoo? That didn't fit with anything that she knew about Amazons and their rather over-inflated sense of pride. It was one thing when Akane made a laughingstock of Ranma.   
But if Akane had actually gone so far as to pick a fight with Shampoo...   
She scowled. This whole business was completely wrong. And it irked her that she didn't yet know why. 

* * *

A knock sounded at the door.   
Shampoo huddled under the covers. "Great-grandmother?"   
"Hey, Shampoo?"   
Damn. It _would_ be him, she cursed, wishing a colourful array of plagues and disasters to befall her Great-grandmother in the near future.   
"Hey, you in there?"   
She kept silent.   
"Uh... I'm, uh, coming in, okay?"   
In tandem with the declaration, the door creaked open.   
An implement hummed through the air, embedding itself in the wall with an audible thump. By this time, Ranma was already bent over backwards, now staring upwards at the comb.   
"Uh, I..." Having a comb thrown at you hard enough to go into the wall usually meant you weren't welcome, he mentally decided.   
"Go!" the muffled voice yelled from under the covers.   
"I just wanna know if you're okay!" Ranma protested.   
"I fine!"   
"The Ol' Ghoul said you weren't gonna be okay for a few days! That Tomboy musta done somethin' bad!"   
"Go!"   
"Geez, how come you gotta be so stubborn!?" Ranma muttered, coming up to the Shampoo-sized lump formed under the covers. A stray tail of blue hair hadn't quite made it under the covers with its owner. And it was covered in blood. There was also a pile of bandages and wrappings in the wastebasket, all with a sizeable amount of blood on them.   
"Oh my..." Ranma's eyes shot open as the smell of antiseptic finally reached his nostrils. "WHAT THE HECK DID SHE _DO_?"   
Without any further ado, he yanked the covers off the bed. "How bad are you-URK!!!"   
The fist caught him straight in the forehead, knocking him off his feet.   
"I'm sorry!" Ranma apologized, covering his eyes. "I didn't see nothin'!"   
Shampoo could already feel tears coming to her eyes as she saw him frantically covering his eyes. She must look absolutely terrible for him to deny it so forcefully. A proud Amazon warrior brought so low... damn her Great-grandmother and her   
wretched ideas...   
"I didn't see nothin'!" Ranma was still protesting. "I didn't see you naked or- I mean, I didn't know that you were-I mean... I'm sorry!"   
Shampoo stared at him in disbelief and looked back in the mirror. Then she began to smile. The idiot. The complete idiot. He didn't understand anything, as usual.   
"_Why_ you sorry?" she asked dangerously.   
"I dunno! Whatever you want me to be sorry for!"   
Shampoo began to laugh quietly as she lay back down on the bed. "Ranma idiot," she whispered. "Ranma big idiot."   
"Uh... okay," Ranma was agreeing, his back still turned. "Are you... uh, still mad?"   
"Shampoo not mad."   
Ranma sighed in relief, rubbing his forehead where he'd been hit. "Whew! That's good-URK!!! Put somethin' on!"   
She hadn't gotten under the covers yet, Shampoo realized. Ranma could be such a prude in his own charming little way, she decided, slipping under the covers. "Shampoo under blanket now."   
Ranma looked back cautiously. "Uh, that's good. Uh, you're not gonna hit me again? I got 'nuff problems with that from Akane."   
"Shampoo no hit."   
He sighed with relief, cautiously taking a step or two closer. "You okay? The Ol' Ghoul said you got it pretty bad."   
Shampoo felt her shame welling up all over again. "Shampoo... lose to... Violent-girl bad..."   
"No kidding. I didn't think Akane would do somethin' like that. I mean, she never went that far when she was fightin' with me. I gotta beat her quick..."   
Shampoo stared at him. "Ranma... always beat Akane?"   
Ranma turned red. "Uh... Akane's gotten way stronger all of a sudden..."   
"Akane beat Ranma too..."   
"Well, uh... kinda, yeah. But not for long. Ranma Saotome never loses a fight and he ain't gonna lose this one..." He cut his battle declaration short as he saw tears beginning to come from Shampoo's eyes. "Hey, what's wrong-HEY!!! What're ya   
doin'? Stop that-ACK!!!"   
Shampoo had grabbed Ranma in a bear hug and was squeezing for all she was worth. "Shampoo thought she lose! Shampoo thought she disgrace to Amazons!"   
Ranma tried to pry her away, but couldn't seem to find anything safe to push on. That option extinguished, he held his hands behind him as far as he could. "Uh... yeah, I guess you didn't know that Akane's real strong now..."   
"Shampoo so happy!!!"   
Ranma could feel his lungs being compressed. "H-hey... don't you gotta rest?!?"   
"Shampoo not care!"   
"B-but... I can't... breath!"   
"Shampoo not care- wait, Shampoo _do_ care Ranma breath. Why he not say before?"   
Ranma sucked in several welcome lung-fulls of air as he was released. His body had been taking a lot of abuse lately, he reflected. If it wasn't being pounded on by over-powered Tomboys, it was being crushed by naked Amazons- "... put some clothes on!"   
"Shampoo sorry. She just so happy now..."   
"Uh... yeah."   
Shampoo looked up at Ranma curiously. "Why Akane so strong?"   
Ranma shrugged, just relieved that things had calmed down. "I dunno. She says that she was just hidin' it before. But she's lying."   
"Akane eat Super Soba noodle?"   
"Already gave her the antidote. Didn't work. But she'd got no control and she can't anticipate my moves. I've fought her a few times now."   
Shampoo nodded. "Shampoo fool Violent-girl many time in fight... but she too fast!"   
"Right!" Ranma agreed. "So she's got something makin' her stronger! I just gotta find out what it is and she'll be her old self again!"   
_That_ was the Ranma she loved, Shampoo reflected. He'd repeatedly challenged Akane and lost, but was still expecting to win. How could she do less? "Shampoo help."   
Ranma looked worried. "But you're all messed up!"   
"Shampoo be good in two days, Great-grandmother say!"   
"Well, I guess you can help a little... but I don't want you getting' hurt-ACK!!!"   
Shampoo held Ranma firmly by his neck. "You insult Amazon? Amazon _never_ afraid get hurt! You say Shampoo weak?"   
"W-well... right now..."   
The hand tightened slightly. "Shampoo help! Is good?"   
When an Amazon has her hand wrapped your neck, there's only one correct answer. Ranma guessed it this time. "Is good!"   
"Shampoo so happy! She get better fast and help Ranma!"   
Ranma nodded, massaging his throat gingerly. "So... uh, I guess I'll let you rest. I'll get working on beatin' Akane and soon's you're okay, you can help out."   
Shampoo smiled. "Is good. "   
Closing the door behind him, Ranma found himself face to face with the older female Amazon. "Old Ghoul."   
"Son-in-Law. So you actually agreed to let my Great-granddaughter help you out. Most amazing."   
Well, it was either that or lose the ability to breath, Ranma wanted to say. "She seemed okay to me. I mean, except for the blood and stuff..."   
Cologne shook her head. "Adrenaline rush, I suspect. Foolish young girl. She'll feel it doubly so tonight. Based on her injuries, I surmise that Akane Tendou was none too picky about where she hit. Shampoo says that Akane attempted to execute what your style calls 'The Camel's Two Humps'."   
Ranma's face darkened. The move was generally consider taboo, since it basically involved planting one's heel right in the middle of the opponent's spine as hard as possible. "Akane did _that_?"   
"Shampoo has seen the move before and was able to get away with only a cracked rib."   
"Shampoo's gonna be okay?"   
"Fortunately, Akane Tendou doesn't use weapons. I imagine that my Great-granddaughter will get by without even a scar in a few days. Luck of the Gods, I think. But do you think you could ask her to leave Shampoo alone?"   
"Maybe Shampoo should just stay away from the Tendou place. I'll, uh... find another place to practice with her."   
"A wise idea. I suspect you and her should be able to do a great deal towards enhancing your skills. I'm afraid that I can't help you at this time."   
Ranma sighed. "Well... keep looking, I guess. Me and Shampoo will just have to get good enough to beat her."   
"I wish you two luck. I would deal with this myself, but Amazons laws prohibit me actually fighting Akane Tendou, unless she attacks me first."   
"Don't even bother," Ranma declared. "Akane's just gotten way stronger and faster. Me and Shampoo are both way more skilled, and we'll take her down if it's the last thing we do!"   
Cologne chuckled as the boy left the restaurant. She could never quite decide which was greater: Ranma's skill or his arrogance. But she had to admit, the combination of the two always made things interesting.   
Pushing open the door to Shampoo's room, she eased over to the younger's bed.   
"Great-granddaughter?"   
"Yes, Great-grandmother?"   
"How are you feeling?"   
"More bad than before."   
"That's what you get for jumping around like a fool while injured like that."   
"Shampoo better in few days."   
"I don't doubt it. And then you have a great deal of training to do, you realize. You are extremely good. But Son-in-Law is much better. If you want to work with him, you'll have to be willing to earn that right."   
"Shampoo earn."   
Are you still angry with me for telling Son-in-Law about what happened to you? >   
Not anymore. >   
So you take back all the curses I heard you wishing on me before? >   
Shampoo flushed. You heard that? >   
I heard everything. He's really is unbelievably dense sometimes. >   
She laughed weakly. He is. I was overcome with humiliation over my defeat, and all he was concerned about was that I wasn't wearing any clothes. >   
Any Amazon male might think of things like that. But he has a completely different mentality. That was because you had no reason to be humiliated. You could learn something from him. He's been challenging her every night without success. And   
yet he doesn't even consider the idea of losing. Many Amazons thinks that a true warrior never loses a battle. Whereas Ranma simply trains harder for the rematch. >   
I will take some time off from my job. >   
Cologne raised an eyebrow. Isn't that a little extreme? >   
Shampoo shook her head. If I am to be a worthy partner, I must catch up to him before I can keep pace with him. >   
I'm glad you understand. I think this restaurant can afford to stay closed for a week. I hope you make the most of it. > 

* * *

The sign to the bathroom door had been flipped to indicate occupancy, but Nabiki pushed the door open anyway, noiselessly positioning herself on the back side of the dividing panel.   
"Hi, Nabiki."   
She smirked. "Goodness. I must be losing my touch."   
"I'm a martial artist. You're quiet, but I know how you sound now."   
"Give yourself a pat on the back, Saotome."   
"So what do you want now?"   
"Just curious how Shampoo's doing."   
"She'll get better."   
"My, that sounds pretty serious."   
Ranma didn't reply.   
"So? How badly did my little sister work our favourite Amazon over?"   
"None of your business, Nabiki. Why dontcha go ask her yourself?"   
"Because I want to walk tomorrow, and I'm not stupid enough to walk up and ask that to an Amazon with a wounded pride."   
Ranma sucked in his breath. "Whoa... so _that's_ why she got so mad..."   
She sighed. "_Brilliant_ Saotome. Ladies' man, _my foot_."   
"Hey! I got more of 'em chasing me than you ever will!"   
Nabiki's smirked. "Think carefully, Ranma, about what you just said."   
He coughed, evidently having realized it himself. "Uh... I mean... I got more girls chasing me than you got guys chasin' you!"   
"You've also got more _guys_ chasing you, I'd like to point out."   
Ranma coughed again. "Hey! That was cheap!"   
Nabiki laughed quietly as she left the bathroom. "Really, Saotome! If you haven't learned better by now..." 

* * *

"I'm proud of you, boy!"   
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, pop."   
Akane looked at the two in confusion. Aside from the relative respect being shown... "You're _still_ training?"   
"That's right!" Genma agreed enthusiastically. "He's a Saotome to the core! He feels that the owes it to his fiancee to try and be worthy of her skill."   
Ranma grunted and continued eating his meal.   
Akane smirked. "Oh come now, Ranma, that's so nice of you. But why are you training somewhere else?"   
"True training cannot be done in a dojo," Genma replied, as though bestowing great wisdom upon everyone present. "It must be done in the openness and vastness of the world. A martial artist who wishes to fight in the world must also train in the world!"   
Nabiki clapped a few times. "Very inspiring, Uncle Saotome. Maybe you should have been a politician."   
"I'll keep that in mind," the man promised, somehow letting the point completely escape him.   
"Anyway, I gotta go," Ranma announced, standing up from the table.   
"Train your hardest, boy! Make your father proud!"   
"Like I'd even care about _that_!" Ranma retorted as disappeared from the room.   
Nabiki watched him go. "My, Akane. He sure is trying hard to impress you, isn't he?"   
Akane looked thoughtful. "You think so?"   
"Of course he is!" Soun opinioned. "Such a well-meaning fiancé. You must be very happy, Akane!"   
"Uh... yeah, I guess so..." she agreed, leaving the room with her dishes.   
Nabiki just shook her head. Now _that_ was as conclusive as any judge and jury. It seemed that Akane really was taking an interest in Ranma. It was a pity that he seemed to have other motives. 

* * *

Punch. Kick. Twist. Jump. Kick. Jump and kick. Spin. Spin and kick and twist and leap and block and slide and chop-   
Recover.   
Ranma touched down on the ground, breathing heavily. Virtually flawless in execution, yet somehow completely useless against his latest opponent. He needed to be faster. Stronger. More agile. More resilient. More powerful.   
Better.   
And nothing short of pushing himself beyond his limits would do that. Maybe he could convince Cologne to spar with him. She would push him beyond his limits with little hesitation. Of course, she'd probably try to stick him with some deal about him marrying Shampoo, and that wasn't what he needed right now.   
He still wasn't sure why he'd even agreed to work with Shampoo. The fact that she'd had a hand clamped around his neck had been the immediate reason, of course. But the heir to the Anything-Goes school shouldn't have to get other people to help them win their fights. When he beat Akane, he wanted to beat her on his own, not in a two-on-one fight.   
Not that Shampoo wasn't a good martial artist. Ranma was a good enough judge to guess that she'd lay waste to any of his other fiancees in a real fight. She was probably skilled in more weapons than even he was, on account of her Amazon heritage. She was certainly far above Akane's skill level. But she was also below his level, and he needed somebody who was good enough to really make him strain. Ryouga would have been nice around now. Or Tarou. Even Happousai would be welcome as a sparring partner. But Shampoo? She just fell a little short of his caliber of fighting.   
Besides, she was a _girl_. And Ranma Saotome _didn't_ fight girls.   
"What you do out here?"   
"Gah!" Ranma froze for a moment as the voice caught him by surprise.   
"Why Ranma scared?"   
Ranma spun around to face the accusation. "I ain't scareda nothing! What are you doin' out here, Shampoo?"   
The Amazon still looked a mess, and walked with a visible limp. But the blood had been cleaned off of her, so she didn't look nearly as bad as she had before. "Great-grandmother say okay for Shampoo to try find place to practice. She not know Ranma already find."   
"Well, 'kane doesn't know about this place," Ranma replied offhandedly. "And it's got more room than the dojo. And the trees are kinda nice for mid-air practice. A real martial artist doesn't _need_ a dojo!"   
"Great-grandmother say too," Shampoo agreed. "That why Amazon never make building for practice. Ranma practice now?"   
"Well, yeah. I mean, you're too messed up right now, but I gotta keep practising."   
"Is good," Shampoo agreed. "Okay, Shampoo watch?"   
Ranma frowned somewhat. "Well..."   
"Shampoo leg very sore. Need rest before walk home again."   
"Alright, alright. Go ahead and watch."   
Shampoo smiled and nodded, finding a tree stump and sitting down on it. It wasn't too often that she got a chance to watch her beloved practice. What she saw mostly was him defending himself against Mousse, who was most certainly an inferior   
opponent. But now, she knew that Ranma would be pushing himself to his limits   
Making a rather strained effort to ignore the fact that someone was watching, Ranma positioned himself in a combat stance in the middle of the clearing. Moving his arms in a slow windmill-like pattern, he began to move forwards in a pattern which   
Shampoo immediately grasped. Not complicated at all, though done with exceptional smoothness on her beloved's part.   
After several moments, he began to increase the speed of his movements, yet keeping them just as precise and defined as ever. His face was still calm, suggesting that he was exerting himself only slightly beyond a brief walk. Even now, he had yet to   
initiate anything resembling an attack.   
Gradually, his movements began to metamorph into punches and kicks, each one possessing a formidable mixture of blinding quickness and minute precision. Yet still he continued to increase the speed at which he carried them out.   
Shampoo soon found herself mesmerized by the sheer power behind his actions. At times, his arms and legs would fade into a blur of red and blue streaks as her eyes were no longer able to register the speed of his attacks. At other times, he would almost seem to slow to a statue, frozen in a position that should never be feasible. Then, as smoothly as he had halted, he would accelerate into a frenzy of chops and spins that seemed almost to keep him aloft of the ground indefinitely.   
And then he would touch down, using the brief contact with the earth to completely redefine his momentum, engaging in another maelstrom flurry of fist and foot.   
Unable to do anything else, Shampoo simply watched. 

* * *

It was almost an hour later that Ranma came to a halt in the centre of the clearing, touching down silently upon his left foot before reverting to a more casual stance.   
Shampoo sucked in a breath, the motions of the past hour still vivid in her mind. Only now was it occurring to her the magnitude of what had been done. Ranma's performance was years beyond anything she would have been capable of.   
"That... much good," she whispered, her Japanese failing to provide any better adjective for the moment.   
All at once, the life seemed to seep out of Ranma as he sank to his knees, panting heavily.   
Briefly heedless of her own injuries, Shampoo was at his side. "Ranma okay?"   
Ranma sank down until he was lying on his back. His clothing was literally dripping with sweat as he sucked in gasps of air. "F-fine... be okay... in few minutes..."   
"Ranma lie?"   
"Honest... just gimme... a few minutes..."   
Looking doubtful, but deciding not to argue, Shampoo say down next to him to wait a few minutes. "Where you learn?"   
"Learn... what?"   
"What you just do."   
"I dunno. Just... made it... up... as I went..."   
"You make up? You lie! It look too-too good. Ranma do much practice before!"   
Ranma seemed to have recovered enough to sit up. "No, I didn't! If it was a pattern, then it wouldn't be much good in a fight. A master of the Anything-Goes style has to make things up as they go!"   
Shampoo realized that he was being serious. She sighed, lowering her head. "Great-grandmother teach Shampoo many thing. But she not teach to make-up practice."   
"That's the only way Pop ever taught me. Besides, your style's different than mine, right? You can't expect to do something like that right away, right?" He blinked, hoping Shampoo would take the hint.   
Shampoo narrowed her eyes. "No matter. If Ranma do, then Shampoo learn too!"   
Ranma frowned. Shampoo obviously _hadn't_ taken the hint. "Wait a minute here! You don't have any idea what you're talkin' about! I've been practising since I was just a little kid!"   
"Shampoo train since too-too little! Ranma think he too good for Shampoo?"   
"N-no, you've got it all wrong..."   
"Then what Ranma mean!?!"   
"Well, it's just that... well..."   
Shampoo stood to her full height. "Ranma think Shampoo WEAK?!?"   
"That's not what I meant!" Ranma retorted, standing up himself.   
"Then tell Shampoo what mean!"   
Ranma met her glare. "I just mean that I'm better than you, okay?!"   
"Ranma better than all fighter! If Shampoo so weak, then why Ranma so scared of her when in China?"   
"Cause you were tryin' to kill me!"   
"People still try kill Ranma now and he not scared of them!!! Why he not want to fight Shampoo then?"   
"Cause I don't hit girls! Geez, I thought you knew that by now!"   
"Shampoo think Ranma stupid! He try to hit Great-grandmother lots!"   
"She's different! She's a wrinkled old mummy! She's strong enough to take it!"   
"And you say Shampoo not strong?! You hit Mousse!"   
"Well..."   
"Shampoo much-much stronger than Mousse! If not, she be wife to him already! Shampoo say that if Ranma hit Mousse, he hit Shampoo too!"   
"I ain't doin' it! I don't hit girls!"   
"Then you insult Shampoo!   
"I ain't insulting ya!"   
"If Ranma not fight with Shampoo, then he say she weak! He insult Shampoo very much!!!" 

* * *

"Hey Pop?"   
Genma eyed his son, noting a slightly distracted tone. "Yes?"   
"How come it ain't right to hit girls?"   
The older opened his eyes. "Of course! I should have realized it myself, son! The reason that Akane keeps beating you is because you're afraid to go all-out against her!"   
"Well, actually-"   
"It's my own fault, really. I should have seen it from the start. Time for another lesson from your father, Ranma!"   
Ranma's expression was a mixture of disgust and weariness. "Oh?"   
"Yes! I've always taught you the importance of not hitting women! This is because they are weaker than men! But what I never taught you is that there _are_ exceptions! Such as your beloved fiancee. She is strong enough that you don't have to worry about hurting her. In such a case, you actually _insult_ her when you don't honour her skill and strength!"   
Ranma looked thoughtful. "So... it's okay to hit girls when they're martial artists too?"   
"Exactly, boy! You always were a quick study!"   
"But what if I hurt them... uh, in practice? 'Cuz I'm stronger than them?"   
"A true martial artist doesn't have to hurt anyone to improve! You must set other challenges for yourself in the process! Why, when I trained under the Master, he would make me and Tendou fight while wearing lead weights! This kept us from injuring each other, but still pushed us to our limits! If you limit yourself, you can still effectively train with a weaker opponent!" 

* * *

"Hey Kasumi?"   
"Yes Akane?"   
Akane was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "Have you seen Ranma anywhere?"   
"I think he's practicing at the back of the house. He was making some straw dummies before."   
"Oh. Thanks."   
Having been given some direction, Akane immediately set out locate Ranma. What would he want with straw dummies? She'd done it herself on occasion, to be sure. But usually it had involved pinning a pigtail to the back of it. And before Ranma had come, she had stuck a fake boken to the dummy.   
She smiled faintly. She certainly hadn't done any of _that_ lately! Why, Ranma had been practically perfect lately. It really wasn't hard to understand why all the other girls were so enamoured by him. Sure, he was a little thickheaded at times, but once you had his attention...   
She could hear him working out in the backyard. Peering around the corner, she saw him rapidly pummelling a straw dummy. He was in his female form for some strange reason, she noted. But the straw dummy?   
Akane blinked as her attention was finally focussed upon the target. It had a crudely made wig of long hair stuck to it, and the hair was coloured... blue?   
Ranma noticed her observing. "Uh, hi Akane," she greeted.   
"Hi Ranma," Akane replied, still looking curiously at the dummy. Blue hair? "Practising?"   
"Uh, yeah. Practising."   
Was the dummy supposed to be... _Shampoo_? Akane couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. "You're... practising hitting... Shampoo?" she finally blurted out.   
Ranma gulped. "Uh... well... kinda, yeah..."   
Why would he do something like that? Even Shampoo made no secret of the fact that Ranma was capable of beating her hands down. And why would want to practice hitting _her_? Unless...   
An idea flashed into Akane's head, but she kept silent about it. If she was right...   
"Well, don't push yourself, okay? You've been training really hard lately." She smiled. "And you've been missing your sleeping time in class lately too, right?"   
Ranma had the grace to look a little guilty, apparently glad for the subject change. "It's just for a short time!"   
"Don't worry about it. You can use my notes to study for the tests."   
"Uh, yeah. Thanks, 'kane."   
"Don't mention it. Don't be late for supper. A martial needs food to keep training, _right_?"   
"R-right!" Ranma agreed nervously. Why was she being so nice all of a sudden? Was it possible that...   
"Anyway, don't push yourself, okay?"   
"N-no! Of course not!"   
Ranma watched Akane leave with a perplexed look on his face. Akane was certainly acting nice these days... was it possible she had a nice side? Or was she on to his plan? He _was_ practising hitting Shampoo. He hadn't lied about that. But he wasn't doing it to beat the Amazon up. He was just trying... well, he wasn't sure what he was trying to do, but he knew it had something do with not insulting her and the fact that it was okay to fight female martial artists who were strong. He hoped Shampoo appreciated this, because training with her was probably going to slow down his own training somewhat.   
But the alternative was to have Shampoo mad at him, which tended to be unhealthy and painful as a rule. And to have her seek revenge against Akane on her own, which could be disastrous. Shampoo obviously couldn't beat Akane in a head-on fight right now, but Ranma knew that there were a lot of other indirect ways to seek revenge. And Amazons considered a few of them perfectly legitimate. If he kept Shampoo busy training with him, she would have less time to work on _other_ plans.   
He hoped Akane appreciated this. 

* * *

Akane flopped back on her bed with a dreamy smile. It was incredible! She never would have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. But she had. Ranma was practising fighting Shampoo! As a girl. And there was only one possible explanation for _that_.   
He planned on fighting seriously her sometime soon. And the only conceivable reason for such a fight would be on account of Ranma's failure to fulfill the engagement to Shampoo. And the only reason for him to fulfill his engagement to Shampoo...   
would be because he planned on marrying someone else. And as for that _someone else_...   
Akane's smile grew even bigger. Dare she even hope so? Was he really taking such a liking to her? She really _had_ tried to be nicer to him. She hadn't mentioned his losing to her for over a day now. She'd refrained from berating him about his poor class participation. She was even getting Kasumi to help her with meals so that they tasted better.   
Perhaps Ranma _had_ noticed all this. And perhaps he planned on meeting her halfway after all. He _did_ have a few things to clear up, of course. Like Shampoo. And hadn't she just seen him preparing for that?   
Well, never let it be said that she was ungrateful. She wouldn't stop him from training. She would keep being nice to him. And eventually, perhaps even get up the nerve to go out on a date. She might have to do the asking, since Ranma seemed rather hesitant about doing anything up front. But surely he would jump in once she asked. She would wait a few more days to make sure.   
Yes, life was good. Very good. 

* * *

end part 3


	4. Part 4

Valley of the Wind Productions presents...   
Power   
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Intrasonic 

> brackets denote Chinese speech 

* * *

Part 4

* * *

It was with a great deal of apprehension that Ranma was undertaking his stretching routines. He was presently at his newly designated practice location, one that was within short distance to home, yet well hidden enough to avoid discovery by anyone else. The fact that it was late at night would also help. The last thing he needed was for Akane to get wind that he was training with-   
"Nihao!"   
-Shampoo. "Hi Shampoo," he greeted neutrally.   
The Amazon quietly made her way into the clearing, smiling and flexing her fingers. "Ranma ready fight?"   
Ranma sucked in his breath. "Yeah, I'm ready. But I'm fightin' as a girl!"   
Shampoo narrowed her eyes. "Ranma say that girl weak?"   
Ranma took another breath. He'd trained hard for this conversation, and he'd expected this accusation. "I'm saying that _my_ girl form is weaker than _my_ guy form. So it's better practice for me. That's all."   
A good answer. Worth the hour it had taken to put it together, judging by the satisfied nod on the Amazon's face. "Shampoo not care which form Ranma in. She want get better."   
"Right," Ranma agreed, glad that the crisis point was past. Soaking himself with the water bottle he'd brought along, he let the mild disorientation leave him as he was left with a smaller body. "Alright, if I'm gonna help you get better, I gotta know where you're at."   
Shampoo looked bewildered as she approached Ranma. "Where Shampoo at? Shampoo here."   
Ranma groaned. "I mean, I gotta know how good you are-URK!!!"   
Shampoo withdrew her fist with a smirk. "Shampoo understand."   
Ranma rubbed her forehead where Shampoo had hit her. Well, she couldn't very well accuse Shampoo of no arm-strength. If Shampoo wanted to play that way... "Not bad. Did you see that, _Akane_?"   
Shampoo's eyes shot open as she spun around. "Where Violent-girl-AIEEE!!!"   
Ranma mirrored Shampoo's smirk as the Amazon tumbled head over heels several times before skipping to her feet. "Two can play _that_ game!"   
Shampoo dusted herself off. "Shampoo think hold back against weak girl-Ranma, but she not show mercy now."   
"Hah! You think I'm _weak_!? I can take you in _any_ form!"   
"Ranma just try!"   
Even as Ranma lunged towards her, Shampoo couldn't help but smile. Her Great-grandmother had been right. Prodding Ranma's arrogance was a good way 'help' him put aside reservations about hitting girls. He was far better than her, of course. But this would be a fun fight. 

* * *

It was over an hour later that the two combatants finally stepped back from each other to catch their breath.   
Shampoo resisted the urge to sink to her knees. Her entire body was aching and her heart was threatening to burst right out of her chest. If she hadn't already known it, she never would have believed it. Ranma's endurance was absolutely inhuman. Even as a female. "Ranma... okay," she granted.   
Ranma smirked. The redhead was breathing heavily, and had several bruises, but she looked to have plenty more fight in her. "Heh. This is training, right? You won't get any better unless you push yourself to the limit. If you don't think you can handle it..."   
Shampoo glared evilly at him. "Shampoo never give up! If Ranma not tired, maybe he not try hard enough!"   
"That wasn't what I meant!"   
"Then what Ranma mean? He hold back, Shampoo know!"   
"Well, whadaya expect? The only people I don't hold back against are people like Ryouga or Happousai!"   
That subdued Shampoo a little. She didn't think she had any desire to experience the Chestnut Fist or the Hiryuu Shoten Ha any time soon. But just the same...   
"You think Shampoo afraid get hurt?"   
"No. But I ain't gonna be the one who does it."   
Her brows furrowed again. Time to play the wild card. "Ranma prefer Violent-girl hurt Shampoo instead?"   
Ranma's jaw dropped. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"   
"Get hurt part of training, ne? Better get little hurt when train. Then no get big hurt in real fight."   
Ranma scowled, a sure indication of the inability to directly refute the point. "Yeah, but even still..."   
"Maybe Shampoo try learn Bakusai Tenketsu."   
"You can't be serious! That's for pig-headed idiots like Ryouga!"   
"It for people who not have other person to practice with!"   
The two glared at each other for a few moments in silence.   
Shampoo finally cracked her knuckles. "Shampoo rest long enough. Train more."   
Ranma kept her eyes locked on Shampoo. She finally shrugged. "Fine. You wanna train some more, I'm game for that."   
Shampoo was already moving, her fists moving in a random pattern that she had pieced together back when she had been on Ranma's trail. But she was still tired from the past hour, she knew. And her movements were slower as a result.   
Ranma saw the movements long before they reached her, twisting and jumping with wild abandon as every single attempt grazed nothing but air. Another series of attacks resulted in the same.   
Shampoo backed off angrily. "Ranma make fun of Shampoo!"   
"I ain't!" she protested. "I'm just practising dodging!"   
"Why you no fight back?"   
"Cuz you're too tired right now. Besides, it's all practice!"   
Shampoo bit her tongue to stifle a retort. Ranma considered this practice? "Then Shampoo make Ranma tired too!"   
"Bring it on!" Ranma invited. "I ain't tired at all!" 

* * *

Yet another hour later, the two combatants backed off again.   
Shampoo was hyperventilating by now. "Sh-sham... poo not... d-done... yet!"   
Ranma was breathing heavily. "Well... I ain't... done yet.. either!"   
Gritting her teeth, Shampoo got to her feet again. Her legs felt like ramen that had been boiled for an hour, barely supporting her weight right now. But she forced herself to ignore the feeling. She would _not_ give Ranma the satisfaction of seeing her give up now.   
"Keep... training," she informed him.   
"Keep... training," Ranma agreed.   
Shampoo approached her cautiously this time, knowing that she had no energy to spare for wasted moves. She wasn't sure she had energy for useful moves, actually.   
It was with some satisfaction that she noted that Ranma was finally beginning to show signs of tiredness. It was about time... she just had to keep the redhead off balance. Fight unexpectedly, she admonished herself.   
Even as she plotted her approach, Ranma did a very surprising thing. She collapsed.   
"Ranma?" Shampoo inquired, not letting her guard down. She didn't doubt that Ranma was fully capable of trying such a move to get her to lower her defenses. After several moments, she realized that Ranma's breathing had slowed as well. A quiet snore came from the motionless body.   
Cautiously, Shampoo prodded the redhead's shoulder with her toe. "Ranma sleep?"   
No response.   
Taking a deep breath, Shampoo summoned her remaining strength and delivered a kick to Ranma's side. Ranma grunted and rolled over, still completely out.   
A smile came over Shampoo's face as the situation came into focus. For whatever reason, Ranma had just fallen! She had won! Against all odds, somehow, she had triumphed over her superior opponent! Wouldn't her Great-grandmother be proud of her!   
The earth-shattering revelation complete, Shampoo then proceeded to unceremoniously collapse on the ground herself. 

* * *

Shampoo didn't know how long she rested for, but when she awoke, the moon was still overhead, informing her that it was still nighttime. Her entire body ached, but in a fashion she was more used to. The kind of aching that was meant as a reminder of how hard the body had been worked recently.   
Propping her body up on her elbows, she looked around in the darkness. Her eyes quickly fell upon Ranma's female form, presently engaged in doing one-armed pushups. Obviously Ranma had recovered much faster than she had.   
"Ranma awake?" she asked, getting to her feet.   
Ranma flipped backwards, landing on her feet. "You're finally awake."   
"Shampoo win!"   
Ranma made a sour face. "Ya got lucky! Real lucky!"   
A smile formed on Shampoo's face. This was great! Time to rub some salt in the wounds. "Shampoo think Ranma just weak!"   
"I ain't weak! You just got lucky!"   
"Ranma prove."   
"Alright, I'll prove it to you! I used a special technique when I was fighting."   
"Special technique?"   
"Yeah. It lets you fight at full strength longer. But you get tired a lot faster. I ain't gonna use it next time!"   
As much as she hated to admit it, Ranma's explanation made sense. No wonder the redhead had gone for so long without even breaking a sweat. A good way to keep an opponent from knowing how tired you were. Which left only one question. "How do technique?"   
"It's not a real technique. With practice, you learn how to draw upon your strength better, even when it's running out. No real easy way to learn it."   
Shampoo made a face. Oh well. Perhaps her Great-grandmother was right. She would simply have to work at all-around improvement.   
Ranma wasn't finished yet, perhaps suffering from more than a small amount of wounded pride. "But next time we fight, I ain't gonna bother usin' it! So don't go thinkin' that you're _ever_ gonna beat me again!"   
Oh yes, his pride was wounded, Shampoo noted with some satisfaction. It made every ache and pain worth it. And what had he said? _Next_ time? "Ranma still think Shampoo weak girl?"   
Ranma swallowed. "Uh... well... you're still a girl and all..."   
"We meet tomorrow?"   
Ranma nodded. "Get some sleep. Cuz tomorrow I'm gonna be serious!"   
"Then Shampoo train at home during day."   
The two locked gazes briefly. Ranma finally shrugged. "Okay, do that. Ask the Ol' Ghoul if she knows any tricks that might come in handy too. It might be a couple of weeks at this rate before we're good enough to take on Akane."   
"Then practice for couple weeks."   
Ranma nodded. "Right. I gotta get back to the dojo. Don't tell anybody 'bout this place, got it? I'm tryin' to keep it a secret from Akane. She doesn't know that I'm practising like this."   
"Shampoo not tell. except Great-grandmother. It be surprise."   
"Right. See ya' tomorrow." The redhead ran off.   
Shampoo waved goodbye before sprinting away through the forest herself. The route was somewhat circular, to ensure that if anyone saw her running at this time of night, they would be hard pressed to track her back to the forest. She couldn't wait to tell her Great-grandmother about it all! 

* * *

It was noon the next day when Ranma finally awoke. His entire body was still aching, but he shrugged it off with a ease born of long experience. Nevertheless, the hot bath brought welcome relief of the pain.   
Ranma let himself sink down into the water, relishing the soothing feeling. The training was rough, but he knew it was making him better. Perhaps it was fortunate that Shampoo wasn't slowing him down as much as he'd feared. She wasn't nearly as good as he was, but with a few modifications, he was able to bring himself down to her level, which meant both of them got a good workout. At the very least, he had to give her credit for sticking it out so long. She was clearly determined to improve herself. Crazy amazon pride... 

A knock on the door jolted him from his thoughts. "Ranma?"   
Akane. "Uh, yeah?"   
"Are you going to be down soon? Kasumi's going to have lunch ready in five minutes."   
Lunch sounded good. Considering that he'd missed breakfast. "Yeah, I'll be right out. Aren't you supposed to be in school?"   
"It's Saturday."   
"Oh."   
"What time did you get home last night? You must be really tired."   
"I dunno. Real late."   
"Oh. I was starting to wor-wonder, that's all," Akane answered, sounding a little hasty. "Uh... well, don't be late for lunch."   
Ranma heard her rapidly walking away. She sounded... agitated for some reason. Although he couldn't begin to imagine why...   
His stomach growled, providing a more concrete notion to contemplate. Getting out of the water, he dried himself off quickly. Lunchtime it was. Right now, even Akane's cooking seemed welcome. 

* * *

"So what do you think?"   
Ranma chewed a few times experimentally. Honestly, if he hadn't lost that stupid fight against her, and been _forced_ to eat her cooking...   
"Well?" Akane repeated after a few moments.   
Ranma finally swallowed. Surprisingly enough, it was pretty good. He could still taste what had to be at least ten times the required amount of salt. And he wasn't sure how vinegar had gotten into the rice. And this wasn't the first time it had happened... "Not... too bad, I guess."   
Akane's face lit up like a cherub. "Really? You really mean that?"   
"Well... yeah..."   
"Really, Akane," Nabiki chided with a smirk. "Hasn't speaking his mind _always_ been Ranma's strong point? I think you can trust him."   
Ranma wasn't sure whether to take that as a vote of support or an insult. Knowing Nabiki, probably both at the same time. "Uh... what she said, I guess."   
"Great! Help yourself!"   
Ranma's stomach was still growling. He shrugged inwardly. He was starving, and it seemed that this was one meal that wouldn't actually put him out of commission. His training would be much more effective if it had some nourishment to work with.   
"Pile it on," he invited. 

* * *

It was about half an hour later that Akane was reclining on the her bed, still relishing the euphoric feeling of hearing her fiancé compliment her cooking. It had been the source of countless arguments. So many rejections and insults over just that... but today had made it all worth it! Just hearing Ranma ask for _more_. And she knew he hadn't been lying, because she'd even watched his face for any discolouration. And he'd swallowed every bite!   
Her giddy smile returned in full as her mind rapidly cycled through meal possibilities for supper. Why, the cookbook was full of ideas for her to try. Her cooking had obviously improved. By the end of the week, Ranma would be _begging_ her to cook   
things for him!   
"Come down from cloud nine yet?"   
Akane started as she recognized Nabiki's voice. "Oh, hi, Nabiki."   
"It looks like you're really improving in the kitchen, little sister."   
"Well, practice makes perfect."   
"I don't doubt it. Keep this up, and Ranma is going to run out of insults for you."   
"He doesn't insult me anymore, anyway."   
Nabiki nodded in agreement. "He doesn't, does he? I wonder why?"   
Akane heard rather than saw the smirk on Nabiki's face. "You're the expert on judging people, Nabiki, aren't you?"   
"That sounds harsh. I prefer to think that I'm just good at understanding what they're _not_ saying."   
"So what _isn't_ Ranma saying?"   
"For starters, the meal certainly wasn't perfect. It was obviously an improvement, but you're still not Kasumi, if you follow what I'm saying."   
"_Nobody_ could ever cook like Kasumi."   
"So what's for supper?"   
"I'm not sure yet. I'm trying to decide."   
"Want some advice?"   
"About _cooking_?"   
Nabiki shrugged. "There's a big difference between knowing about something and actually doing it, little sister. It would be a good idea for you to remember that."   
"So what else _isn't_ Ranma saying?"   
Nabiki feigned ignorance. "About what?"   
Akane turned a little red. "About... you know..."   
"You'll have to be more descriptive than that, I'm afraid..."   
Akane scowled as her face reddened further. "About what Ranma thinks of me!"   
Nabiki smiled. "Oh, _that_. Well... that's hard to say. Men can a little hard to read sometimes. But I'd say Ranma's curious, if you catch my meaning. Still thinking of trying the shoe on?"   
The colour of Akane's face deepened even more. "I wasn't talking about _that_! I just want to know..." she trailed off, not trusting herself to finish the statement.   
"If he loves you?" Nabiki finished matter-of-factly.   
"Well... kinda.... yeah..."   
"There's no reason to be ashamed of wanting to know that."   
"R-really? You don't think so?"   
Nabiki waved aside the issue. "Of course not. _Shoes_ aside... it's only natural to wonder if you and him are on the same wavelength."   
"So... what do you think?"   
Nabiki's eyebrows narrowed. "Well... I'll make you a deal. You tell me the honest truth about how you feel about him... and I'll tell you how to make good on it."   
Akane recoiled somewhat. "W-what is _that_ supposed to mean?"   
"There's no sense in me giving you all this advice without knowing where you stand on it all."   
"Well... I... Ranma... he's been really nice lately..."   
"But how do you _feel_ about him?"   
"I don't know!"   
"If you don't know, then how can I help you?"   
"I... _like_ him, I guess..." She looked hopefully at Nabiki.   
Her sister shrugged. "Is that all? Well, in that case, just keep working on the cooking. Good luck."   
"_Nabiki!_"   
Nabiki slid closer to Akane, her eyes fixing Akane in her spot. "Little sister... I'm dead serious. If you only _like_ Ranma, then what point is there in me giving you romantic advice? I don't think you quite appreciate what kind of advice I can give. I may not have boyfriend or fiancee myself, but you'd better believe that I know about relationships. I've been hired to both make and break them, and I'm quite good at it. Like I said, there's a difference between knowing and doing something. I think you'll be hard pressed to find anyone around who knows about relationships better than I do."   
Akane looked away. "Why are you being so helpful all of a sudden?"   
A smirk. "What? You expect that I'm going to charge you for this help? Give me some credit, little sister. I draw a line between family and business. I'll help you do whatever you want with him. I can help you not fight each other. Or I can get you two naked under the sheets. Or anything in-between. I've arranged it _all_ before, trust me."   
Nabiki turned Akane's face back to looking at her own. "So what do you think? Are you sure that you only _like_ Ranma?"   
Akane lowered her head. "Well... I... guess... I'm curious."   
"Go on."   
She swallowed. "I... guess... I'd like to know if it... could all work out."   
Nabiki patted her sister on the back. "Very good. That wasn't so hard to admit, was it? You like Ranma, and you're curious about whether anything more serious could come of it, right?"   
Akane swallowed again. "Y-yes..."   
"Okay. No problem. So we've got you, then we've got Ranma. On your side, we've got someone who's open to the idea of romance, correct?"   
A nod.   
"And on the other hand, we've got Ranma."   
"What about Ranma?"   
"Well, you can't have a relationship with only one person. It takes at least two. Let's think about what we're dealing with. Ranma is the same age as you, also a martial artist, goes to the same school, and lives under the same roof as you. Those are all good things.   
"On the bad side, you two have a history of arguing, fighting and insulting each other. A rather long one, too. That's not so good."   
"We haven't done any of that lately!"   
"That's a _good_ thing. Keep doing that, and you're halfway there."   
Akane looked doubtful. "You... really think it's that easy?"   
Nabiki gave a knowing smile. "Akane... think about it. We're talking about Ranma. He's got three other love interests, and two of them are fairly sane, good-looking martial artists who are perfectly willing to admit they love him and drape themselves over him. And then he's got you, who he's always been fighting and arguing with. Yet after all this time, he still hasn't gone for either of the other two. _Why not?_"   
"I... don't know."   
"I think you might want to consider that he's also curious. About you."   
Akane's heart sped up a few beats. "You... think so?"   
"Why not? You're wondering whether or not the relationship could work. I think he's also wondering about that too. Maybe more than he'd ever admit. On one hand, he's got Ukyou or Shampoo. On the other hand, he's got you. He hasn't made a choice, but he will. Our strategy is simply going to be to make it very easy for him to choose you."   
"How... will we do that?"   
Nabiki smiled. "Not too hard, little sister. You've already got his interest. Now all you have to do is take advantage of that. For starters, your cooking. Don't try anything harder yet. If I wanted to get back into martial arts, I would start out at the bottom right? If you want to improve your cooking, you've got to take it slow. You can't build the castle until you've laid the foundation. And with every meal that Ranma eats - even if it's not a ten course dinner - he'll be reminded that you _can_ cook, and are getting better all the time. He's the type that appreciates determination, you'll find."   
Akane nodded. "So I shouldn't do anything complicated yet."   
"Right. Next, I think you and him should go out on a date."   
"_WHAT_!?!"   
Nabiki smiled. "Well, you don't have to _call_ it that. Perhaps we'll arrange for the two of you to go somewhere public where you can both enjoy an event, and make a little small-talk on the side."   
"Such as?"   
Two tickets were thrust in her face. "The latest Jackie-Chan movie, presently sold out. And Ranma was too lazy to wait in line, so he's going to have to wait months and months until it comes out on video tape..."   
"How did _you_ get these?"   
"I have my ways. But they're for tomorrow night. Think Ranma would be interested?"   
"He'd kill for one of those."   
"Well, he doesn't have to kill anyone. All he has to do is take you up on your offer to go see the movie with you. You can each pay your own way for food on this one, and with this type of movie, you don't have to worry about any mushy stuff."   
Akane swallowed. It _did_ seem like a good idea. It wasn't a date of course. Just... two people going to watch a movie at the same time. Perfectly innocent.   
Nabiki voiced Akane's thoughts. "Perfectly innocent for both for both of you, right? Yet it's a perfect chance for you two to get a little more comfortable with each other."   
A slow nod. "And... we can even leave separately so that daddy and Mr. Saotome don't know..."   
"You've got the idea. By incredible coincidence, the Ucchan's and the Nekohaten will still be open. So you don't need to worry about Ukyou or Shampoo coming around to interfere. Kunou and Kodachi shouldn't be a problem, since both have a habit of going to bed early on Sundays. Mousse would only wish you the best if he sees Ranma with anyone aside from Shampoo."   
"That... makes sense."   
"Of course it does. I know a few things about this type of business, you know."   
"You're _positive_ this is all for free?"   
Nabiki smiled. "For my little sister, no charge. I'll even throw in the tickets for this one. You can tell Ranma that you won a bet against me. Just make the most of it, and I think you'll see Ranma paying a little more attention to you, and a lot less towards anybody else. Sound good?"   
Akane nodded again, aware that she was blushing.   
Nabiki stood up, heading towards the door. "I thought it would. I suggest you ask Ranma after supper today. It'll give him something to think about while he's training tonight. And the more he thinks about you..." she let the thought trail off, quietly closing the door behind her.   
Akane resumed lying back on her bed, exactly as she had been a few minutes ago. But her thoughts were far from the same. A date with Ranma? No, not a date. Just... an opportunity to test the waters. To see if there was any possibility...   
She shivered slightly, but a soft smile was on her face. Was there _really_ a chance for something to happen? Nabiki had sounded certain. When Nabiki was certain about something, she was almost always right. And the explanation had made sense. And even if things weren't perfect, what did she have to loose? She would have gotten a free movie for the night, and she would know for certain about Ranma. 

She _really_ hoped things worked out. 

* * *

Nabiki let out a satisfied smile as she headed into her own room. So far, so good.   
She didn't pretend to understand everything that had happened lately. But she knew a few things that Akane didn't. Such as the fact that Ranma's recent good behaviour was largely an act. And that he knew Akane was lying about something. That alone was a problem, since Akane's present behaviour and interest towards him seemed to be genuine. The situation was a powder keg, just waiting for a spark to set it off.   
But that didn't mean things were hopeless. With some good advice and a little manipulation, she didn't think it was that far-fetched to believe that some genuine understanding could come of the recent cease-fire. With the surprising amount of patience they had been giving each other lately, the atmosphere was as good as it was going to get. The trick would be to bring about that 'genuine understanding' before Ranma tried to directly confront Akane about whatever it was that she was hiding.   
Or rather, the _real_ trick was to get _Akane_ to do that.   
Yes, she had her work cut out for her. 

* * *

"That make sense?"   
Akane took the paper full of mathematical scribbling, noting the decided absence of doodling on it. Ranma's face seemed surprisingly serious, compared to other instances she could remember. It was possible that this was the first time he'd _ever_ taken homework seriously since arriving in Nerima. And it was with _her_...   
Realizing that Ranma was beginning to give her a curious look, she quickly looked away, towards the paper. After a moment... "No, you can't do that."   
"Do what?"   
"When you're differentiating exponential equations, you have to remember that you can't work directly with them when both the base and the exponent are variables. You have to break it down into something else first."   
Ranma made a face. "Okay... so..." His forehead screwed up in thought. "Use that logarithmic stuff to take it apart?"   
Akane nodded. "Right."   
"Okay. Lemme at it again."   
He took the paper from her, immediately resuming his work. Akane looked at him with no small amount of amazement. Ranma... was actually working on his homework. Would wonders never cease?   
But perhaps the most surprising thing was the results. His knowledge was... spotty, she could tell. It was probably an exact parallel to the amount of class time he'd slept through, really. But even the past hour had shown amazing improvement. She had yet to explain anything twice, and he was actually extrapolating from it at a rate that would impress even Nabiki.   
Another way of looking at it would be to admit that her justification for calling him an 'idiot' had one less leg to stand on. It was perhaps fortunate that she hadn't had to call him that lately. So why was he suddenly so willing to learn like this?   
A thought crossed her mind, from her discussion with Nabiki. Was it possible... that Ranma really was curious? She could name any number of times that various friends had gone out of their way to tutor members of the opposite sex. Or to be tutored by them. Was it possible that Ranma was using such a ploy himself?   
She played with the thought for a few moments. She supposed it was possible... his sudden attentiveness could be explained that way. Maybe he was trying to get on her good side more? Or maybe-   
"-Akane?"   
She blinked back to reality. "Um, yes?"   
"You okay?" Ranma asked, giving her a strange look.   
She'd gotten distracted. With a mild blush, Akane realized that she'd probably been staring right at him the whole time. "Y-yes."   
"Does this look okay?"   
Akane took the sheet from him, quickly scanning the calculations that Ranma had made during her zoning-out. "That's... right."   
"Really? Great!"   
She rolled her eyes at him. "You must have already learned it up in your sleep."   
Ranma quickly donned one of his trademark arrogant smirks. "Well... guess I can do this stuff in my sleep!"   
"Next question," Akane decided, deliberately pointing towards the longest question on the textbook page.   
The smirk quickly disappeared. "That's gonna take me _years_!"   
"Too much to handle?" Akane challenged. Inwardly, she knew he'd squirm his way out of it. In about five seconds, he was going to announce that he had to go to the bathroom. It was inevitable, really.   
"Yeah, yeah, okay," Ranma agreed, taking up a clean sheet of a paper.   
"Just hurry up," she admonished. She blinked as Ranma's words finally registered. "What?"   
"I'm working as fast as I can," he muttered.   
Akane nodded. "I mean, yes. Good. I mean-" She shut her mouth tightly before any more gibberish leaked out. It was fortunate that Ranma seemed not to have noticed.   
She regarded his mask of concentration briefly. It didn't seem quite... right. Ranma should have tried to avoid the issue. He should have done just about anything _except_ agree.   
Which gave credibility to the second possibility. He was trying to score points with her through the Homework Tutor strategy. But that didn't seem quite right. All the stories her friends had told her about involved a half-hearted attempt at the work, alongside a whole-hearted attempt at being over-friendly to the tutor. Whereas Ranma seemed unaware she even existed at this moment in time. Strange.   
Then again, Ranma wasn't exactly an average person to begin with. He'd spent most of his life training in martial arts. Obsessing in the martial arts, really. With that kind of a mindset, maybe he thought the best way to impress her would be to do likewise to his homework.   
She smiled. She wouldn't discourage that, since it made homework much easier to do. But it was a good sign nonetheless. Perhaps Nabiki's idea had some merit to it after all-   
"-Akane?"   
She recovered faster this time, thankful that she hadn't been staring at him this time. "Yes?"   
"How's that?"   
Akane blinked. "You're done already?"   
Looking the sheet over for several moments revealed a distinct lack of errors. And a _very _short solution to boot. And to top it off, a correct answer. She looked at him. "What's this?"   
"I used that rule. The Hospital rule."   
"You mean 'l'Hospital's Rule'?"   
"Yeah, that one. But it works, doesn't it?"   
Akane blinked. "But... that's cheating!"   
"Why? I'd be at the problem all day if I didn't use it."   
"Uh... well... I guess it's okay. I... didn't expect you to do it that way." Heck, she'd never thought of doing it that way before.   
"Well, you explained it before. You gotta use everything technique you know! Just like Anything-Goes fighting."   
Akane smiled inwardly. Trust Ranma to apply martial arts towards math homework. "Anything-Goes Mathematics?"   
Ranma didn't seem to have a problem with the notion. "Sure. Why not? You mean, you did the question the long way?"   
Well, she _had_. Time for a quick topic change. "By the way, I meant to ask you something, Ranma."   
"What?"   
"Are you busy tomorrow evening?"   
"Uh... I... don't think so. How come?"   
Akane rummaged through her drawer, producing two pieces of paper that she held up to his face.   
Ranma read the writing, allowing a moment of silence before letting his jaw hit the floor. "H-hey! Those're for the latest Jackie Chan movie! How'd you get those?"   
Akane smiled. "I actually won a bet against Nabiki for once. Anyway, most of my friends don't really like that kind of movie. You feel like using the other ticket?"   
Ranma head nodded so fast it was almost a blur. Then he caught himself. "Waaaait a minute... what's the catch?"   
"No catch. But this is the first time I can remember really winning a bet against my sister, so I didn't want the tickets to go to waste, right?"   
"Oh. Well, I mean... sure... this some kinda..." He looked just a little suspicious. "Did our dads set this up or somethin'?"   
Akane made an honestly disgusted face. "No way! And if you want this a ticket, you can't say _anything_ to them about it!"   
_That_ seemed to relax Ranma. He nodded firmly. "Uh, right. Not a word to 'em."   
Akane nodded. So far so good. Ranma seemed open to the idea, but not overwhelmingly happy. Perhaps Nabiki was right when she suggested that Ranma felt the same way as her. Not actually in love, just curious...   
"Meet me at the theatre at 7:00," she told him. "If we leave separately, we don't have to put up with our fathers."   
"Gotcha. 7:00."   
Only twenty-two hours away, Akane noted, glancing at the clock on her wall.   
Ranma followed her glance to the clock. His eyes shot open. "Aw, geez! I lost track of the time! I gotta get training!"   
Akane nodded reluctantly. Really, Ranma's father was such a slave-driver where training was concerned. "Well, okay. 7:00 tomorrow, right?"   
"Right. See ya there."   
Akane allowed herself a small smile as Ranma bolted out the door. He'd forgotten to pack up his homework, he was in such a rush. And there was precious little that could _ever_ make him concerned about punctuality. He must have _really_ lost track of the time.   
She giggled quietly as she lay back on her bed. Maybe it had been _her_ that had distracted him. Maybe.   
A knock on the door got her attention. Before she could say anything, a folded piece of paper was pushed under the doorway, followed by silence.   
Akane slid off her bed, retrieving the piece of paper and opening it.   
'Good job, little sister. Have fun tomorrow night.'   
Akane laughed quietly as she tossed the message in the garbage. Trust her sister to listen in on the conversation. But she would let it pass this time. Nabiki was on her side this time. 

* * *

end part 4


	5. Part 5

Valley of the Wind Productions presents...   
Power   
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Intrasonic 

> brackets denote Chinese speech 

* * *

Part 5 

* * *

Punch. Kick. Feint. Jump. Punch.   
"Hey, Shampoo!"   
*CRACK*   
Even as Shampoo spun to face the new arrival, the tree she had struck toppled over. "WHY RANMA LATE!?!" she demanded.   
Ranma swallowed. "I'm sorry! I had homework to do, okay?"   
He received a suspicious look for his explanation. "Ranma hate homework!"   
"If I don't do it, I fail school, okay? Just because _you_ don't have to do it..."   
"Great-grandmother teach Shampoo in evening! You think Shampoo stupid?"   
"NO!!! I didn't say that at all!"   
Shampoo abruptly calmed down. "Then we practice?"   
"And if you think that-" Ranma blinked. "Uh... yeah, let's practice."   
"Great-grandmother give Shampoo ideas. She beat Ranma today easy."   
"You gotta be kidding me! You just got lucky yesterday!"   
Shampoo shrugged. "Shampoo never have serious fight with Ranma before. She ready now."   
He shrugged, opening a thermos of water over his head. "Whatever. I've been holding back too. Today you're gonna see what you're really dealing with!"   
Shampoo twisted into a combat stance. She didn't think she'd ever been pushed as hard as she had yesterday night. Moves she'd never even dreamt of had been used against her, forcing her to develop counters she'd never before dreamt of inventing. Reserves she'd never thought she'd possessed had been depleted before the night had finished. And it had been with the man she loved. Even if he had been a different gender at the time.   
And she was going to have another chance to do it all again. That thought alone was more than enough to bring a smile to her face. 

* * *

"Ranma give up?"   
Ranma was presently lying down on the ground, face against the dirt, her right arm twisted backwards by the crook of Shampoo's left elbow. Her legs was splayed out awkwardly, one of Shampoo's legs having hooked underneath each of them and immobilized them with the inside of her knees. Shampoo's free hand held Ranma's head solidly down. Ranma's left arm was pinned under her body, unable to do anything due to the leverage and weight of the amazon. The best she could presently do was to avoid inhaling dirt.   
Shampoo wasn't nearly willing to oblige, using all her strength to push the redhead's face closer to the ground. "Ranma still think he stronger than Shampoo?"   
"I'm a _girl_ right now!" she shot back, spitting out dirt. Inwardly she cursed. About ten minutes into sparring, Shampoo had gotten into a position to demonstrate something rather significant about their relative strengths. Namely, the Amazon had two advantages over his girl form. A longer reach, and considerably more strength. The two had been put to good use, resulting in her being in the extremely humiliating position she was now.   
Shampoo didn't buy the excuse. "No matter. Ranma still Ranma, even if girl. Ranma give up now?" The question was rhetorical, she knew full well. But it was fun to goad him like this.   
"You ain't beat me by a long shot-MMPH!!"   
After about ten seconds, Shampoo let Ranma come up for air. "Maybe Ranma take Shampoo seriously now?"   
"What d'you mean by that?"   
"Ranma still hold back against Shampoo," she accused. "Shampoo know Ranma better than her. He know Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken and Hiryuu Shoten Ha. He even know chi blasts. Why he still not fight real?"   
"Cause you ain't trying to kill me! That stuff's only for pigheaded idiots like Ryouga!"   
"Ranma not like hit girls?"   
"You know that!"   
"Akane is girl."   
"She's stronger than me right now!"   
"Shampoo stronger than Ranma now too."   
"Are NOT!"   
For an answer, Shampoo merely ground Ranma's face into the dirt again. "Ranma keep lose until take Shampoo seriously. She want to be better."   
A quiet gleam came into Ranma's eyes. "Okay, I'll teach ya something."   
Shampoo didn't relax her hold an inch. "Then teach."   
"Okay. A martial artist's gotta always know what his surroundings are. The Anything-Goes style is actually weakest in an open area. The more obstacles there are, the better the style is."   
"So Ranma teach Shampoo to use obstacle to fight?"   
Ranma smirked. "Yeah, something like that. And lemme tell you another thing."   
"What?"   
"If you're fightin' someone who practices Anything-Goes fighting... NEVER give 'em time to think."   
"What that mean?"   
"There's a lot of big tree branches above us."   
Not letting up on the pressure, Shampoo glanced quickly upwards. Sure enough, a good number of thick branches were stretched out overtop of them.   
Ranma immediately shifted her left hand underneath herself. "MOKO-TAKABISHA!!!"   
From Ranma's left hand, a massive blast of chi smashed downwards, propelling them both upwards like a human rocket. Shampoo felt a sinking feeling as she realizing what was going on. Unfortunately, it was too late to disentangle herself from the smaller girl.   
She smashed through about five branches before the upwards descent had been halted. By this time, Ranma had wormed her way free and wrapped her legs around the briefly dazed amazon's waist. With her arms, she used the sixth branch to catapult around, sending both of them back down towards the ground, letting Shampoo absorb the impact with a flawless belly flop.   
Shampoo managed to replace the air that had been knocked from her lungs, struggling to regain her feet. Except this time, Ranma was pinning her to the ground.   
"It's not over yet," Ranma said, briefly grinding her face into the ground. Then she rolled away quickly, flipping to her feet and waiting.   
Shampoo wasting no time in standing up. She didn't know why Ranma had released her like that. More patronizing, no doubt. She'd make him regret it this time...   
*THUD**THUD**THUD**THUD**THUD*   
Shampoo briefly reeled as the five branches she had smashed through on the way up finally finished landing squarely on her head. By the time she regained her senses, she was able to see Ranma rushing her again.   
Ranma abruptly ran into a fist as Shampoo demonstrated how quickly she had recovered from the branches. The next fist she ducked, hitting the amazon with several fast punches to the gut that had little effect.   
"Shampoo learn lesson," she decided, regaining her bearings again.   
"The Anything-Goes style is the ultimate form of adapting in martial arts," Ranma informed her, skipping back several steps. "But if even if you don't use that style, you gotta know how to make up stuff on the spot. That's why you shouldn't have given me time to think like that."   
"Shampoo not make mistake second time."   
Ranma leapt upwards, landing on a low tree branch. "Time for you to see what the Saotome style is _really_ made of!"   
Even as Shampoo jumped up after him, Ranma leapt towards her, meeting her in mid-air. After a dizzying assortment of twists and vaults, Shampoo found herself staring downwards at a rapidly approaching ground. Several thoughts later, she impacted head-first. The reverse kick she attempted was absorbed harmlessly by the redhead, serving merely as a booster to vault her upwards to land on another branch.   
Shampoo looked upwards, her growing distaste for dirt tempered by the knowledge that Ranma was slowly beginning to take her more seriously. It was rather painful, but her persistence was beginning to pay off.   
"You don't stand a chance in the air against the Saotome style, Shampoo!" Ranma hollered down. "Even the ol' Ghoul don't like to mess with me in the air!"   
An exaggeration, Shampoo knew. But not completely inaccurate.   
"Your Amazon style teaches you to only expect one chance at doin' something in the air," Ranma continued. "But it ain't true at all. Even the ol' Ghoul doesn't really believe it. That's a big weakness for you!"   
Accurate, Shampoo had to admit. Ranma had practically done a gymnastic's routine around her in the air, whereas her attempted grapple had been the beginning and end of her resistance. "Then Shampoo learn!"   
"It's completely against your style!"   
"Shampoo learn _anything_ Ranma teach!" she shot back.   
"Then come on up and try!" the redhead invited, leaping up to a higher branch.   
Shampoo accepted the invitation in full. 

* * *

It was almost an hour later that Ranma finally touched down on the ground again. As for Shampoo, it could be said that it was the first time she had _willingly_ touched down on ground again. To say nothing of finally landing on her feet.   
"You don't have a prayer of beating a Saotome in the air," Ranma informed her modestly.   
Shampoo rubbed her shoulder. "But Shampoo better off ground now."   
"Well... I guess so. You ain't making your old mistakes anymore. And you're getting better at doing more than one attack in the air."   
"Akane good in air?"   
Ranma made a face. "Come on, Shampoo. When was the last time you _ever_ saw her jump? All she ever does is punch and kick at what's in front of her. She's worse in the air than Tsubasa. I'd have beaten her by now, but she won't even jump."   
"Not have to," Shampoo muttered angrily.   
"If we keep training, she's going to have to try eventually," the redhead declared. "And that's gonna be one more way I'll take her down. Nobody beats a Saotome. _Nobody_!"   
"Why Ranma angry?"   
"I'm not angry. But if she's gonna claim to be better than me to my face, what do you expect me to do? A martial artist must rise to every challenge, and she just gave me my next one. Even if it's cool that she's not always hitting me anymore. Even if she's lying about it, do you have any idea how good I'll be by the time I beat her? Heck, by that time, I bet I even give your Great-grandmother a run for her money."   
"And Shampoo be easy best young warrior in village back home," Shampoo agreed. Looking at Ranma, she decided that it couldn't hurt to test the waters a little. "So... Ranma no mind train with Shampoo?"   
"Uh... well... I guess it's... okay."   
"What that mean?" she demanded.   
"Well... you ain't as a good as I am, but..."   
"If Ranma bad trainer, that okay."   
"Whadaya mean, _bad trainer_?"   
"Ranma better than Shampoo, but no teach much. Shampoo have to learn by self. So Ranma bad trainer."   
"I'm a great trainer! I'm just not tryin' right now!"   
"Prove. Try train Shampoo."   
"I gotta train myself right now."   
"Then maybe Shampoo train Ranma?"   
"Yeah right. What could you teach me?"   
Shampoo shrugged. "Okay. Shampoo not teach Ranma secret technique for finding hidden power source."   
It was amazing how Ranma could go from being ten feet away, to suddenly being six inches away from her, complete with pleading puppy-dog eyes. Surely a martial arts technique or something... "Now just a minute here..."   
She smirked. "Why Shampoo teach Ranma? He no teach Shampoo anything."   
Fortunately, Ranma had always been a reasonable person when bribed. "I'll teach you something!"   
"What teach?"   
"Uh... I dunno. What do you want me to teach you? I know lots of stuff."   
Shampoo looked thoughtful. "Teach Shampoo Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken."   
Ranma looked doubtful. "I dunno if you're ready for _that_ yet..."   
"Shampoo better now than Ranma when he learn."   
That was hard to argue with, since no proof existed either way.   
"Well... I guess I can. But I learned it 'cause I had that stupid Full-Bodied Cat Tongue and was locked in my cursed form. I don't think I can teach you when you're a c-c... when you're cursed."   
Unfortunately, that was true. "So teach different way."   
"But I don't know any other way!"   
"Ranma find way. _If_ he good trainer."   
Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Fine, I'll make up a way. _Nothing_ is impossible for Ranma Saotome! So what about this technique of yours..."   
"Great-grandmother teach Shampoo now. If Akane have source of power, then it show."   
Ranma nodded. "I'm positive she's gettin' her power from somewhere. And this technique can find that source?"   
Shampoo nodded. "Shampoo not know well yet. But much easy if practice withother person."   
"Great. How do you practice?"   
"Ranma sit."   
Shampoo also sat down, facing Ranma. Holding her hands up, she faced the palms towards Ranma. "Put hands up."   
Ranma obeyed, frowning as Shampoo pressed her palms lightly against her own. Was this some sort of ploy on her part?   
"Ranma relax," Shampoo ordered.   
Ranma looked a little confused, but forced herself to relax. Shampoo's voice sounded rather strained, although she couldn't quite understand why. The technique must be exceptionally difficult.   
Shampoo closed her eyes, forcing herself to concentrate. Her Great-grandmother hadn't mentioned _this_ aspect of the training. It was one thing to practice by herself. But just thinking about the person across from her was enough to drive her to   
distraction.   
Ironic, really. This was possibly closer than she'd ever gotten to Ranma before, without him trying to escape or shy away. But there he was, patiently waiting within touching distance. Within kissing distance even...   
To maintain her concentration took a phenomenal effort on her part. Indeed, Ranma's female status was probably the only thing keeping her from making good on a few brief fantasies. That, and the knowledge that if she lost it now, she'd have a terrible time getting him to trust her again. She hadn't come this far, only to throw all her work away. If she kept this up, by the time her Great-grandmother's plan was put into play, she would be guaranteed of success! Whatever the plan was, anyway.   
"What are you doin'?" Ranma wanted to know.   
"Shampoo concentrate. No distract," she replied bluntly, feeling like the hypocrite she was.   
"Uh, okay. Sorry."   
After a few moments, a faint battle aura began to glow around Shampoo's form. Ranma raised an eyebrow, but decided against saying anything.   
It was several moments later that she felt her hands begin to grow hot. The bluish aura around the amazon was beginning to flow out and over her hands. Out of reflex, she yanked her hands back.   
Shampoo's eyes snapped open. "Ranma relax! You distract!"   
"Well, sure! What're you doin'? Tryin' to possess me or somethin'?"   
"It technique Great-grandmother teach Shampoo!"   
Ranma looked a little shocked. "You mean, you _are_ trying to possess me?!"   
"No!" That _would_ be an interesting technique, though. "Shampoo giving battle aura to Ranma."   
"Uh, okay. Why?"   
Shampoo looked a little frustrated at first. "Shampoo not know good words. She give battle aura to Ranma... and take Ranma battle aura."   
"You mean..." Ranma looked thoughtful. "We... trade battle auras?"   
"Great-grandmother say it part of..." once again, she fumbled for the proper word. "She call 'Aura pro-jeck-shun'. Like what make pervert Happousai look big."   
Ranma's eyes lit up. "Aura projection? _Cool_! And this is gonna help us learn it?"   
Shampoo nodded.   
Ranma sat back down. "Okay, let's get practising. This is awesome!"   
"Akane not do this," Shampoo agreed, resuming her position across from him.   
"Hah! Akane couldn't do this kinda stuff in a million years! We learn this, we'll beat her easy! Heck, we'll be able to beat up Happousai whenever he tries to grope us!"   
_That_ was a pleasant thought, Shampoo admitted. Next to Ranma, she was possibly Happousai's favourite target to grab at. "Is good," she agreed. "Ranma relax."   
"So what are you tryin' to do?" Ranma wanted to know.   
"Shampoo take Ranma battle aura, replace with own battle aura."   
"What's that do?"   
"Shampoo look at Ranma battle aura, understand source of power."   
"But I don't have a source of power."   
Shampoo nodded. "But when do on Akane..."   
"Gotcha. But you can't keep your battle aura in someone... or keep my battle aura."   
She nodded again. "It happen fast. Then go back. Then Shampoo look at battle aura that come back, understand source of power."   
"So... you get two chances to find the source of power. You can look at your opponent's battle aura, and look at your own after it goes into the opponent... cool." Ranma suddenly looked wary. "So what's the catch?"   
"Catch?"   
"Well, yeah. All these special moves got problems with 'em. The Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken tires you out fast. The Bakusai Tenketsu doesn't work on living things. For the Hiryuu Shoten Ha, your enemy has to be angry, and you can't be. Chi attacks, they drain you really fast, and you've got to be in the right frame of mind. So what's the bad thing about this move?"   
She shrugged. "Not know bad thing about move. Hard to learn. Need touch enemy to use."   
"You gotta be touching them, huh? Well, I guess that could be a problem against Akane. She's pretty fast right now. Oh well. Let's get practising on it."   
"Is good," Shampoo agreed, placing her hands against Ranma's again. Her Great-grandmother had explained the premise behind the technique. But she had stated clearly that it would take significant practice before the technique worked properly. But that wasn't all bad. The longer the practice went on, the more time she would spent with Ranma.   
Concentrating, the Amazon willed her battle aura to come forth into her hands. 

* * *

"Here you go."   
Akane accepted the mug of hot chocolate, sipping it lightly. "Thank-you."   
Yuki sat down on the other side of the table, holding a second mug of her own. In between them, the table was covered with an assortment of homework notes, the numbers and signs on the papers identifying the subject as math. "So he took off for   
more training, huh?"   
"That's right. His father is an absolute slave-driver, really. Ranma hasn't been getting back until 2 or 3 in the morning most nights. And he wakes up again for breakfast and more training back home. I'd almost swear he was crazy."   
"So... how about an update?"   
Akane offered a bewildered look. "What do you mean by that?"   
Yuki gave a coy smile. "You know what I mean! How your progress with Ranma?"   
"Oh... _that_. No change, really. But I think he's trying the homework trick with me right now. I was helping him for a few hours tonight."   
"No way!?"   
Akane laughed. "Can you think of any other reason for him to do two hours of straight math? And for him to ask me to help him with it?"   
"Wow. I'd have bet against _that_ ever happening. So how much work actually got done?"   
Akane briefly looked confused. "Actually, a lot. I think it's because he's a martial artist. You know how obsessed he gets with martial arts. I'll bet that he thinks that if he acts _really_ dedicated to math, I'll be impressed."   
"_That_ sounds more like Ranma," Yuki agreed. "So he hasn't tried anything yet?"   
"Nothing yet. I'm not so sure that he ever will."   
"I guess he is like that on some things. Maybe you'll just have to get things started yourself."   
"Maybe. But it's not a sure thing, you know."   
"Are you sure? He's done a complete about-face lately! He _has_ to be serious about it. Didn't you say that he'd been training to beat Shampoo recently?"   
Akane nodded slowly. "I know... but I don't want to rush into this..."   
"Of course not. But maybe you should get a start. You know, go to a movie together. Just to test the waters a little."   
"You think so?"   
"Of course! You both like martial arts, so maybe you can watch one of those for the first time. If that works out good, you can try another movie, except one that's a little more romantic. And then the next one can be even _more_ romantic..."   
Akane had to laugh. "I have hard time imagining Ranma sitting through an entire romance movie without going nuts."   
"By the time you get to those kind of movies, he won't even be paying attention to the movie, because he'll be a lot more concerned about something else!"   
Now _that_ was an interesting thought. "Maybe. I'll... work on it. So what about _you_?"   
"What about me?" Yuki demanded.   
"A little bird told me that you've staring just a little too much at a certain Daisuke..."   
"No way!" Yuki protested vehemently, face already beginning to blush red.   
Akane smirked at her friend's reaction. "I _thought_ so. So let's get down to business. First, we'll arrange for him to help you with some of this math homework..." 

* * *

With a gasp, Shampoo fell back on the ground, breathing heavily.   
"You okay?" Ranma asked worriedly.   
She nodded weakly. "Shampoo never try use battle aura like this."   
"Me neither," Ranma admitted. "So did the ol' ghoul mention any other ways to learning this?"   
"Great-grandmother not say. Shampoo need learn more aura. Ranma need learn less."   
"Yeah, I guess so. I don't want to set your clothing on fire again. I guess I'm used to chi-blasts and that kind of stuff."   
Shampoo sat up again. "Shampoo better now. Try again."   
Ranma swallowed. She _did_ want to learn this aura technique. But right now, it was going nowhere fast. Shampoo inexperience at summoning her battle aura resulted in nothing happening. Ranma's experience at summoning chi-blasts had already resulted in setting Shampoo's sleeves on fire. "Maybe we should try somethin' else for a little while. Neither of us is very good at this stuff."   
"What else try?"   
"Well... I still don't know how I'm gonna teach you the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken. But I can help you train for speed."   
That sounded like a good diversion. Shampoo got to her feet. "How teach?"   
"You gotta learn that the technique is about speed, not power. Even if I can throw lots of punches fast, they're not as strong as a regular punch. You work on the power after you got the speed. So I'm just gonna defend, you just attack. You gotta try to get through my defences."   
For an answer, Shampoo lashed out with her fist. Jinking her head sideways, Ranma let the blow pass by harmlessly. The next two were ducked and sidestepped with similar ease.   
"You're punching too hard," Ranma admonished. "Don't worry about power. Just speed. Try again." 

* * *

"See you on Monday then?"   
Yuki nodded. "Monday. And remember, you've got to push Ranma a little more. You've got his attention, so you can't slack off now."   
Akane shook her head. "There's no sense in rushing things. It's not as if I'm going to suddenly make him the centre of my life and start bowing to him, right?"   
"Maybe, but guys can be really dense sometimes. Ranma _especially_. You have to make sure he understands you."   
"You worry too much. Things are going just fine. It's all a matter of time, that's all."   
"You sure about that?"   
Akane nodded resolutely. "Ranma doesn't like to be pushed. Or else he'd have gotten hitched with one of his other fiancées, right? I... don't want to push him around like they do."   
"I guess that's right," Yuki admitted. "You'll keep me updated."   
"You'll find out before Nabiki does," Akane promised with a smile.   
"Good luck!" 

Heading back home, Akane shook her head to clear it. Were things getting a little chaotic all of a sudden? Or was it just her imagination. True, there was no chaos in the normal sense of the word. No one had challenged or tried to marry Ranma for some time now. Even Shampoo hadn't been making any appearances.   
Akane smirked at the last observation. And the Amazon probably wouldn't be showing her face for quite some time. If for any reason she _did_... Akane would be more than happy to administer a second beating.   
Perhaps the chaos was just her, after all. Things _had_ been rather unusual between her and Ranma lately. Not unpleasant, but unusual. And if she let her imagination wander a little, she thought she might even be able to get used to it all. 

* * *

It was several hours later that the two combatants disengaged from each other. Both were breathing rather heavily from the past hour of exertion.   
"Shampoo not feel fast now," the amazon muttered between gasps of air. Although it was some satisfaction to know that she had managed to tag Ranma a number of times. The hits had been without any power behind them, but they had slipped fast Ranma's near-invulnerable defences. As soon as she had caught her wind again, she would feel quite happy about that.   
Ranma was also sucking in air at a rapid pace. "You're getting faster. This is just starting stuff, to get you used to the technique. I still have to think up a better way to teach you the real thing."   
"Try aura technique?" Shampoo suggested.   
The redhead looked pensive, no doubt remembering the first attempt. "I dunno..."   
"Try now, when tired," she clarified.   
"Heh, I guess you might be right. Maybe it'll be easier to use less power if I'm tired like this."   
Shampoo folded her legs and sat down, gesturing for Ranma to sit across from her. "Great-grandmother say that much time needed."   
Ranma scowled. "I'm Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome Anything-Goes School of martial arts. And I'll learn that technique in no time flat!"   
Shampoo met his scowl. "Shampoo is Amazon warrior, under Great-grandmother. And she learn technique before Ranma learn!"   
"Hah! I'd like to see you try!"   
"Shampoo not try, she DO!!!"   
Boasts exchanged, the two placed their palms against each other's, closing their eyes.   
"Need relax," Shampoo reminded Ranma, beginning to concentrate.   
"Gotcha," Ranma agreed, beginning to concentrate.   
After several moments of mutual silence, faint glows began to form around the bodies of both the fighters, evidence of their attempting to summon their chi. Like a slow-burning fuse, the glows spread throughout their bodies, gradually working down their arms, to their hands, then finally surrounding the tips of their fingers.   
Briefly, the glows were halted by their owners. In sync with each other, they both exhaled, then inhaled deeply, mustering the will to focus all their strength into the attempt. Finally, in unison, they released their hold on their respective energies.   
Unchained, the chi surrounding Ranma leapt forwards into Shampoo's hands.   
Unchained, the chi surrounding Shampoo leapt forwards into Ranma's hands. 

An eternity passed between them as they sat there motionlessly, hands still lightly pressed again each others. Both battle auras had completely faded away into nothingness. Finally, both opened their eyes to stare at each other, both with pale faces   
and a slightly haunted look.   
Shampoo was the first to speak. "Shampoo thought... it her turn to try..."   
Ranma swallowed. "No way... It was definitely my turn..."   
Both then proceeded to unceremoniously faint. 

* * *

Shampoo wasn't sure how much later it was, but eventually she awoke to find herself staring at the sky. Her head throbbed angrily, somewhat reminiscent of a bad hangover. Her body felt completely limp and drained, as though she'd just competed in a week of tournaments back home in her village.   
The last thing she remembered was making another attempt at the aura technique. Except that Ranma had tried at the exact same time. She could still remember the expression on Ranma's face. Death warmed over, to put it mildly. She wouldn't have been surprised if she had looked the same way. Whatever had happened, it had been completely unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. Even now, things were flashing through her mind in a maelstrom of images.   
Genma... annoying, lazy, and stupid. But a good teacher. Ryouga... pig-headed and a one-track mind. Annoying to have around. But once a good friend and fun to fight with. Ukyou... pretty cute. Great friend. A little obsessed with Okonomiyaki. Akane... sometimes cute. Friendly lately. Poor fighter and lying about strength now. Not really a martial artist. Shampoo... pretty cute. Lots of fun to spar with lately. Lots of determination. Fun to be with when not glomping...   
Blinking, she tried to ignore the images that kept pestering her. Grunting, she tried to divert her thoughts to the purpose of standing up. After several moments, she gave up, relaxing and letting herself regain her strength.   
"Ranma?" 

The redhead was awake also, still lying on her back. Her entire body was trying to convince her that she'd spent the past week learning the Bakusai Tenketsu. Her head felt on the verge of splitting open from the pain. In her mind, various images and feelings were whirling around like a tornado, none entirely familiar.   
Cologne... Harsh and mysterious, but always to be trusted and respected. Mousse... cute in his own way, but annoying and thick-headed. Wish he'd grow up. Ukyou... a worthy opponent, but not always the enemy. Akane... possible enemy, only recently dangerous. Poor excuse for a warrior. Ranma... incarnation of a god. Lots of fun to spar with. Dearly loved...   
"What the heck..." Ranma shook her head, trying to clear the images. 

Turning her head, Shampoo saw Ranma rubbing her head in bewilderment. "Ranma okay?" she inquired quietly, still conscious of the strange pictures in her head.   
Ranma blinked, turning her own head to meet Shampoo's gaze. Her face still looked a little haunted. "Shampoo... do you hate carrots?"   
Shampoo gave a bewildered look. Dumbly, she nodded. "How Ranma know that?"   
"I dunno... just came to me now..."   
Shampoo swallowed. "Ranma like history?"   
It was Ranma's turn to look bewildered. "Uh... kinda, yeah. How'd..."   
The look on both their faces suggested the exact same thing.   
"What happen before?"   
Ranma shuddered. "I dunno. I got a lot of funny things in my head now... 'cuz I sure as heck don't think Mousse is _cute_..."   
"Shampoo _never_ think Akane cute!" the amazon interjected vehemently.   
They reached the same conclusion at about the same time, indicated by a pair of extremely embarrassed expressions.   
"What Ranma know?" Shampoo demanded, sounding somewhat nervous.   
"Uh... how much do _you_ know?" he quickly returned, also sounding worried.   
Silence ensued for some time between them.   
"Maybe pictures go soon."   
"Yeah, I hope so. Musta been something to do with our battle auras. We shouldn't have tried it at the same time like that. I bet it'll fade away pretty soon."   
"Is good," Shampoo agreed. Unable to resist, she smirked at him. "But now Shampoo _know_ that Ranma have fun spar with her!"   
"Hey! Now don't go jumpin' to conclusions..."   
"Ranma hate spar with Shampoo?"   
"Nonono, I didn't say _that_!"   
"Either Ranma hate spar with Shampoo, or like spar."   
Ranma sucked in a deep breath. "Alright... yeah, I guess it's fun," he admitted.   
Shampoo smiled faintly, leaning back against a tree. "Then is good. Keep spar, get much better."   
The two sat in silence once again, neither entirely certain what to make of the sudden turn of events. Knowing someone else's thoughts, or having someone else know your thoughts... neither was a comfortable idea. Whatever else could be said about this technique, it had certainly created a rather awkward situation for the moment.   
"Uh... you ain't gonna tell anybody... anything, right?" Ranma hesitantly asked.   
The amazon shook her head. "Ranma not tell anything?"   
"Never," the redhead vowed.   
"Is secret, then."   
More silence rang across the clearing in the forest.   
"Ranma hate when Shampoo hug?"   
"Well..."   
"That what Shampoo see."   
"I... don't really like it, I guess."   
"Shampoo sorry. She not know before. She think Ranma like."   
"Uh... That's okay. Don't worry 'bout it."   
Still more silence ensued.   
"You really like this sparring don't you?" Ranma said quietly.   
"Shampoo love."   
"How come?"   
"Is what Amazon does. Shampoo hate being waitress to pervert Japanese boys all day. Feel like she get weaker every day in restaurant. If have choice, she fight whole day. Only stop when eat and sleep."   
Ranma nodded. "Yeah. That's pretty much all me and pop did for the past ten years. I kinda miss that. I mean, I get lots of practice every day, but beatin' up Mousse and Kunou is easy. Even Ryouga's easy to beat when he's angry. Pop is gettin' pretty easy too."   
"Shampoo not have partner spar with in Nerima. Mousse too easy. Not have enemy like Ranma have."   
"Heh. I guess I got a lot of enemies to give me practice around here!"   
"Ranma like?"   
"I dunno. I gotta practice somehow. You can't be the best by just splittin' bricks and stuff like that." Ranma swallowed before continuing. "I guess... it's more fun fighting with you than with enemies. I mean, we're both gettin' better this way."   
Shampoo smiled at Ranma's admission, even if she had learned as much already on account of the technique. But she sobered up somewhat. "Shampoo not know if she getting better now."   
"It's hard to tell until you actually try to fight someone else. When I was always fightin' with your Great-grandmother, I never thought I was getting any better. But the next time I fought with Ryouga, he couldn't even touch me. I think we're both getting better like this. Pretty soon, it ain't gonna matter how strong Akane is."   
"Is good," Shampoo agreed. "Shampoo ask Great-grandmother tomorrow about why technique act strange."   
"Probably just because we did it at the same time," was Ranma's opinion. "We'll just make sure to only do it one at a time from now on."   
Getting to her feet, the redhead blinked as a few stray beams of sunlight found their way into her eyes. "Whoa... we've been here the whole night!"   
Shampoo was surprised too. "So long?"   
"I guess I oughta get back before anybody comes lookin' for me."   
"Keep secret," Shampoo agreed. "We practice again?"   
"Yeah, tomorrow night." Ranma eyed the sun again. "I mean, tonight. I'll try to get here as fast as I can."   
"Is good. Shampoo see later."   
"Yeah, see ya later."   
Shampoo sprinted off in a round-about direction to the Nekohanten, but skidded to a halt upon hearing Ranma call after her.   
"Hey, Shampoo?"   
"What Ranma want?"   
Ranma swallowed. "Uh... if you want, I'll fight... um, as a guy next time."   
The smile that lit up Shampoo's face was more than enough answer.   
Even as the amazon continued back to the Nekohanten, Ranma started off towards the Tendou Dojo at a more leisurely pace. While she wasn't exhausted to the point where she couldn't even run, she _was_ tired. And distracted.   
Despite hopes that the images would fade away, they didn't seem to be in any hurry to do so. Strange ideas and pictures were still running circles in his mind, all having something to do with Shampoo. Which probably meant that she was still experiencing various thoughts having to do with him.   
Still... she had given her word not to tell anyone, just as he had to her. If she gave her word, she would keep it, wouldn't she? She always had in the past. While she _had_ tried a few underhanded stunts in the past, her approach tended to revolve around executing the plan _before_ questions could even be asked, as opposed to outright lying. And at the moment, he thought he could detect a slightly embarrassed reaction to the memories of those incidents. Which would probably explain why Shampoo had never tried any of those ideas a second time.   
She sighed, shaking her head. Somehow, she had a hunch that Shampoo could be trusted. And it was quite possible that Shampoo was just as bothered by the load of images that she had received herself. Ranma had experienced a lot of strange things in the process of training, but this was definitely the first time she'd been given a load of someone else's innermost thoughts. It was probably the same for Shampoo.   
All the same, she found herself looking forward to sparring again tomorrow night. 

* * *

end part 5


	6. Part 6

Valley of the Wind Productions presents...   
Power   
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Intrasonic 

> brackets denote Chinese speech 

* * *

Part 6

* * *

The young child obediently knelt before the father, quietly taking in ever word being spoken. The father was idly fingering a thin, worn-through book, although his lecturing seemed not to include it as a reference at the moment.   
The child's state of health looked rather poor, to say the least. From their feet to their arms to their face, there was scarcely a spot devoid of cuts or scratches. It was mere speculation how far beneath the half-shredded training gi the injuries extended. Large stains of dried blood were still visible across the clothing, although it would be guessed that most of it had been cleaned off the child's skin. The eyes were bloodshot, as though they had gone far too long without meaningful sleep. Even now, they were darting back and forth nervously, as though expecting to spot some unseen danger in the room.   
"A martial artist must be prepared to give his life for The Art," the father was saying, his tone of voice suggesting that it was an oft-repeated mantra. "In the quest for excellence, they do not fear for themselves. The Art comes first, last and always. The Art is everything."   
"Yes, father."   
"Then why are you afraid?"   
"I... I..." A small tear trickled down the child's check unbidden, quickly brushed away. "I'm not... afraid," they whispered quietly.   
The father was unmoved. "I didn't hear you."   
"I'm not afraid," the child repeated, louder this time.   
"I don't think you believe it."   
"I'm not afraid!!!" the child retorted, now standing. Their face winced as the sudden movement aggravated the scores of injuries across their body. "I'm not afraid!"   
The father smiled thinly. "Then why don't you trust me? I'm only doing my best to make you the strongest martial artist in the world."   
The child swallowed, but remained in place.   
Almost hypnotically, the father continued to speak. "You cannot be the strongest without overcoming your fears. You must be strong and face whatever holds you back. Only then can you truly master The Art. Do you understand?"   
The child nodded, more resolve now evident in their stance.   
In response, the father produced something from a bag and held it out for the child to take. A string of fish-cakes.   
Instinctively, the child backed up a step, arms tensed, as though to ward off the offending object. From beyond the two, a hole in the floor yawned, almost as though waiting to be fed. Occasionally, a muffled caterwaul echoed upwards, prompting the child to cringe at the sound.   
"You must overcome your fears," the father repeated. "Persistence and sacrifice are the keys to perfection of The Art."   
Hesitantly, the child reached out their hand to accept the fish-cakes.   
"Only by persisting will you succeed in learning this technique."   
Slowly, the fingers grasped the string holding the various cakes together.   
"True power does not come easily. But a true martial artist understands this and presses ahead nonetheless. In the end, only The Art matters."   
Trembling, the child wrapped the cakes around their legs, waist, shoulders and arms, until the entire length was used up. Straightening again, they looked beseechingly towards their father.   
In reply, the father's face was expressionless, nodding curtly before glancing meaningfully towards the hole in the floor. "I told you before. Don't give up, and the cats will teach you the Nekoken."   
The child was standing before the pit now. Below, glowing eyes peered up from the darkness, the smells of the fish slowly beginning to reach downwards. "T-they... didn't want to teach me last time... or the time before..."   
"That's because you hadn't proved yourself worthy. You must persevere, and prove yourself their better!"   
The cats were beginning to wake up, their yowls getting louder. The boy shivered, exerting all his will-power to keep from running away from the hole.   
The father approached, alongside the child. "I've devoted myself to training you to be the best martial artist in the world. I believe you can do it, with all my heart. Can't you trust me in return?"   
The child slowly nodded, new resolve coming into their eyes. Taking a deep breath and a purposeful step forwards into the space above the pit... the resolve shattered again.   
"N-NOOOO!!!! DADDYYyyyy..."   
The child's shrieks were quickly lost amidst the cries and yowls of a hundred starving cats. 

* * *

It was early afternoon that Cologne first heard signs of stirring from the bedroom of her Great-granddaughter. Quietly ascending the steps, the aged matriarch pushed open the door to the sleeping quarters.   
Shampoo was still sleeping, although she was haphazardly wrapped in her bed sheets, and now lying on the floor. Even now, she would twist or thrash in a way that suggested a less than peaceful sleep.   
Xian Pu, wake up, > Cologne whispered, tapping the girl on the shoulder.   
The reaction was immediate. With a shriek, Shampoo launched herself at Cologne, her right hand lashing out violently.   
By this time, the matriarch had already moved out of reach, allowing Shampoo's hand to merely rip out a section of the wall before she was tripped up by her own bedsheets.   
Urgh... >   
Awake now? > Cologne inquired, once again approaching her great-granddaughter.   
Shampoo was hugging herself, shivering despite the warm room. I... was having a nightmare... I think. >   
Cologne's smile was somewhat wry. I would like to think that you wouldn't normally attack me like that. What sort of dream did you have? >   
It was... strange. I was only a child... and I was in a pit... full of cats... >   
Sounds like you were learning the Nekoken in your dream. That _could_ be considered rather traumatic. >   
But I was never taught the Nekoken. > Shampoo abruptly swallowed. But Ranma was... >   
Quite true. The technique is supposed to render the trainees permanently insane. I was always impressed that Ranma survived it so well. >   
The younger amazon's face was suddenly nervous. Great-grandmother... about the technique Ranma and myself were practising... >   
What about it? >   
What if... we both tried it at the same time? > The worry in her voice suggested that it was perhaps more than just an idle question.   
Cologne shrugged in reply, permitting the question to remain abstract. I suppose if you had done it at the exact same time, it is possible that you might have both picked up stray thoughts from the other. Perhaps you should only attempt it one at a time from now on. >   
Shampoo nodded, getting to her feet. Perhaps you are right. It... was a terrifying dream. I never realized how terrible an experience it must have been for him. >   
Really, when you consider what you went through to become the warrior that you are... is it so surprising what he went through to become even stronger than you? >   
Shampoo had no answer to that.   
Do not let it disturb you too much, > Cologne admonished soothingly. By now, those thoughts should have all but faded away. >   
I... hope so. It is strange to fear something that I turn into... > 

* * *

"Ranma?"   
After placing her ear to the door, and hearing no response, Akane deliberated on what to do next. Ranma being Ranma, he was always happy to eat. But he had to be awake and at the table to do that. And lunch was about to be served right now. Normally, she would have simply barged in and soaked him into the land of the awake.   
But things were a little different right now. The two of them were... friendlier than they had been for a long time. To be specific, they were about to go on a mutual outing tonight, to watch a movie and grab a bite to eat together. Not a date, but still an outing. And the last thing she wanted during that outing was for him to be angry about her dumping water on him.   
"...even better," Nabiki was continuing, "wouldn't you love for him to be grateful to you, for waking him up for lunch?"   
Akane gave her older sister a patient glare. "I get the idea, Nabiki. No need to overdo the advice, okay?"   
Nabiki gave a thin smile. "Right. So wake up him up. Nicely."   
Akane nodded, deliberating on various options before slowly turning back to Nabiki. "Um... what do you think would be the best way?"   
Resisting the urge to laugh, Nabiki merely smiled again. "This is where you walk in, find Ranma in some rather compromising situation, don't give him a chance to explain, completely loose your temper, then belt him out the window into the pond. And have him mad at you all day."   
"Right. I'll do that... hey!"   
"So to _prevent_ that from happening, why don't you first take a slow peek into his room and see if he's still sleeping?"   
"Oh. Okay."   
Before Akane was able to nudge the door open, a loud yell came from the room. Followed by several loud crashes. Followed by one big crash. Followed by silence, then a splash outside.   
Nervously, Akane turned back to her sister. "What do I do now?"   
"This, little sister, is where you _screw_ subtlety, go in and try to figure out what the heck is going on."   
Akane immediately did so. "What's going on, Ranma?!"   
"He's not in the room," Nabiki pointed out after a moment. "And there's a big hole in the wall. And we heard a splash. He's probably in the pond right now."   
"Oh. Right."   
Even as both went to examine the rather obvious point of exit. Peering through it, a clear picture of the backyard pond was visible, complete with a sputtering redhead in the middle of it. Ranma was wearing the same clothing she had left the house in yesterday, which suggested that she had come home tired enough to sleep in them.   
Ranma looked around in bewilderment before looking up at the two girls looking down at her. "Whadya do _that_ for?" she demanded.   
"I didn't do anything!" Akane retorted.   
"Then how'd I get _here_?"   
"You did that yourself," Nabiki quickly interjected, before the arguing could escalate any further. "Akane was about to wake you up for LUNCH, actually."   
The word 'lunch' was normally a suitable distraction where Ranma was concerned, but strangely enough, it didn't seem to be this time. "Uh... I think I'll pass on lunch."   
Akane swallowed. "I... I'm not cooking this time. Kasumi is..."   
Ranma nodded idly, getting to her feet. "That's okay. I'm not really hungry right now. I'm just gonna go for a walk."   
As though to solidify her point, Ranma emerged from the pond, shaking the water off herself as best she could. That failing, she did the sensible thing and took off her shirt to wring it out. Sensible, if not especially appropriate.   
Akane's glared downwards. "Do you mifphghgph..."   
Nabiki removed her hand from Akane's mouth. "What you _meant_ to ask him," she whispered, "was 'Did you have some sort of dream last night?'."   
"Um... right. Did you have some sort of dream last night, Ranma?"   
The redhead looked up from wringing her shirt out. "Uh... yeah. It's nothing."   
"Well... you were yelling in your sleep. And you broke a hole in the wall."   
"Just... a nightmare. That's all. How come you're so concerned?"   
"I'm not conmfpghghgh..."   
Once again, Nabiki clamped a hand over her sister's mouth and pulled her away from the window. "Think first, talk second," she admonished quietly. "Now try again."   
Akane's head reappeared again. "I was just... making sure you're okay."   
Ranma briefly raised an eyebrow and she put her shirt back on again. "Er... thanks. I'm just gonna be gone for awhile."   
"Okay. Um... have a nice walk." The two girls watched Ranma vault over the backyard wall, then turned to face each other.   
"Getting better, little sister."   
"Would you quit interrupting me, Nabiki?"   
"Akane, I can see your insults coming a mile away. You've got to stop saying the first thing that comes to your head. You're going to a movie tonight. I'm not going to be there for you. You have to make a conscious effort to think things over, _then_ talk."   
"But he just walked off, even after I said nice things!"   
"He was going to walk off no matter what, Akane. But right now, he's walking off with a few things on his mind. Such as the fact that you were going to wake him up for lunch. And the fact that you wanted to know why he woke up so roughly. And that you wanted to know that he was okay. And the longer he walks around, the longer he's going to think about those things."   
"Oh. I never thought of things that way."   
"Trust me, little sister, I did. Now if you really want to score a few points before tonight, let's try planning ahead a little. Ranma's missing lunch now."   
"He said it was okay..."   
"Akane, this is Ranma we're talking about. He's a bottomless pit on his good days. Right now, he's been training his brains out. Whatever nightmare he had is probably bothering him more than his stomach. But when he gets back in an hour or so..."   
"He'll be asking when supper is."   
"Right. So what would be a good thing to do? That he would appreciate?"   
Akane looked thoughtful, before finally brightening. "I could... make an extra meal for him!"   
Nabiki resisted the urge to groan. "Uh... yes, you could. But there's something else you could do, that's even easier to do. What do you think that would be?"   
"I... could... set aside a plate for him!"   
Nabiki resisted the urge to jump for joy. "Why, that's an _excellent_ idea, little sister. Maybe you should do that before Mr. Saotome eats his son's share."   
"Right!"   
Nabiki watched Akane race down towards the table, gently thumping her head against the wall. Were they even related? How could someone be so ignorantly one-minded? And this was only one-half of the equation. Ranma's big mouth was possibly even worse than Akane's impulsive reacting. And they were supposed to go to a movie together? And watch the whole thing without hating each other? And eventually get _married_?   
Perhaps it was time for desperate measures. 

* * *

It was with an unhurried pace that Ranma slowly progressed down the street, having stopped only at a restaurant for a glass of hot water. Whether it was by luck or subconscious intent, he continued on a path that kept him well away from the dwellings of any of his rivals or fiancees. Which was just as well, as he had other things on his mind.   
He hadn't lied to Akane. He _had_ woken up from a dream. But he wasn't entirely certain what to make of the dream. It hadn't seemed... quite real. Enough to honestly scare the hell out of him, yet somewhat surreal from the onset. And unlike a lot of dreams, he could still remember this one fairly well... 

############### 

The dense jungle seemed to continue on without end. Stepping over fallen trees, pushing through patches of overgrown leaves and grass, and slogging through pools of mud. These, along with countless other obstacles, sought to halt forward progress. But all were cross and mastered, footprints and flattened vegetation serving as proof to any who would follow her.   
Her? Ranma shrugged off the observation with practised ease. He had long been able to tell whether he was male or female without actually looking at himself or hearing himself talk. Although her body seemed... smaller. Weaker. Shorter. Even for his female body. Like he was just a child.   
A scramble up a small rock face made the situation clearer as he occasionally was forced to look at his various limbs to make sure they had found a secure purchase. He _was_ just a child at the moment. Young enough that his body was still fairly   
androgynous, yet not so young that he wasn't able to detect a slightly lower centre of gravity and a distinct lack of something between his legs. So he was definitely a young, female child at the moment.   
This information was regulated to a background knowledge as he crested the rock face and continued onwards without even stopping to take a breath. A large object was strapped to her back, although its identity was unknown. The whole time, her gaze was constantly shifting, viewing the surroundings with suspicion. Every bush, patch of grass, boulder or low-hanging tree branch was suspect as a hiding place. The ground was ruthlessly analysed for betraying footprints or telltale tufts of orange and black fur.   
That information jolted Ranma. She was hunting? Or running away? The idea of running was unconsciously and violently rejected. Running was absolutely not an option. Better to die a thousand deaths before running away. Right now, she was most certainly the hunter. Hunting what? A formidable hunter in its own right, something that had orange and black fur...   
Fear began to gnaw at the edges of Ranma's mind as her mind filled her in on the journey's objective. Ridiculous. Impossible. She was just a child. No matter how skilled, she was just a child. And she was going to single-handedly kill a... TIGER?!?   
Frantically, Ranma tried to change her course. She ordered her legs to stop moving, to turn around and return to... wherever she had come from. She didn't have a prayer the way things stood. Maybe in a few years. But right now, against a giant beast like a tiger, with long sharp claws and teeth and fangs and...   
Ranma renewed her efforts to backpedal. For kami's sake, it was a CAT! She'd go into conniptions before she even caught sight of it. Just the knowledge of its presence would make her freeze up, never mind actually _seeing_ it. The beast would have its huge canines clamped around her throat in seconds, and she'd be twitching like a helpless doll the whole time.   
The fear was most certainly there, Ranma knew. It was frantically trying to penetrate her mind in full force, to prompt her body into motions that would result in escape. Unfortunately, for some reason, her body was simply choosing to ignore it in full force. And that was going to prove to be a very bad thing soon, Ranma was positive...   
A snarl caught her attention.   
Right in the middle of the pseudo-pathway, her quarry was waiting. Kami-knew-how-many-hundred pounds of solid muscle, bone and fur, with five out of six ends possessing surgically-sharp cutting instruments. Two thin slits eyed her with disdain, clearly not viewing her as anything beyond a possible meal. And not a very large one at that.   
For her part, Ranma froze wide-eyed in her tracks. Her feet felt rooted to the ground, her arms rigid at her side. Even her mouth didn't budge, caught in a half open gape. As big as she might have known her prey to be, knowledge failed to do justice to what was before her. Her previous estimations of who the predator and who the prey were quickly began to be thrown into question...   
Ranma frantically ordered her body to turn and runrunrun-   
In response, her teeth finally clamped down together, even as she bent her limbs into a ready position. Reaching behind her back, she took hold of the object strapped to it and brought it forth. Several yards of cloth fell to the ground, revealing a double-handed sword that was longer than she was tall. The metal surface looked mildly tarnished, save for the recently sharpened edge. Shifting her stance slightly to accommodate the oversized weapon's weight, she levelled the point between hers and the tiger's eyes.   
-runrunrunrunrunrun-   
Even as the animal sprang towards her with deadly intent, Ranma felt herself mirroring the lunge, screaming out a cry of challenge as her arms strained to bring the blade around in a wide arc... 

################# 

Ranma shuddered at the memory of his dream, absent-mindedly turning a corner and continuing down another street. So lifelike... as though he had actually been there, hunting through the jungle, confronting the tiger, swinging the sword...   
But he knew it wasn't real. Not by a long shot. Too many things wrong with it. For starters, he would never have been using such a weapon. He was capable of using weapons, of course, but he'd always felt that they were limiting and inflexible for real combat. Secondly, he had been a young girl in the dream. He hadn't had his encounter with Jusenkyou until he was sixteen years old.   
But most significant of all was the encounter with the tiger. He hadn't run away. Certainly he had frozen up in fear. He'd been completely paralysed for a time. But then it had gone away, and he'd attacked. That wasn't supposed to happen. He should have simply stood there, possibly losing his mind and fighting like a cat.   
He'd had dreams involving the Nekoken before. They had been very scarce over the past few years, usually only after he'd gotten into some fix involving it. There had definitely been no Nekoken in this dream. So where had the dream come from? 

A small pebble bounced off Ranma's head, jolting him from his thoughts. Briefly halting his walk, his turned his head in the direction it had come to from.   
From between two close buildings, a head was peering out warily. Wreathed in her blue hair, Shampoo's face was immediately recognizable. Beckoning him with her hand, she withdrew behind the wall again.   
Looking around briefly, Ranma noticed that the few people on the street were otherwise occupied. Sidestepping, he was soon behind the wall, next to the Amazon.   
"How come you're hiding?" he wanted to know.   
Shampoo shook her head. "We train secret, yes? Not want people see together."   
"Gotcha. So what's up?"   
Judging from the troubled look on Shampoo's face, he thought he might have an idea what exactly was up. Her opening words confirmed it. "Ranma have dream last night?"   
"Uh... yeah. You could say that. You know anything about it?"   
"Shampoo talk with Great-grandmother. She say it okay. Happen because try at same time. Okay if try one at time."   
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."   
Shampoo was nodding in agreement.   
They stood facing each other in silence for several moments, ignoring and being ignored by several passerbyers. As for what was going on in their heads...   
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" Ranma finally exploded.   
"WHY YOU LISTEN TO STUPID FATHER?" Shampoo demanded, just as vehement.   
They trailed off into several more moments of silence before winding up again.   
"You tryin' to get yourself killed?!" Ranma continued. "Goin' after a tiger when you're just a little kid? You must be crazy!"   
"Shampoo not crazy! Shampoo think _Ranma_ crazy! Listen to stupid father and cover in fish and go down in hole full of hungry cat!"   
"I was TRAINING!!!"   
"Shampoo TRAIN!!!"   
"A martial artist must be prepared to lay down his life for the art!"   
"Amazon warrior never afraid to die!"   
Another period of silence ensued between the two.   
Ranma finally spoke, his voice quieter. "I... I guess you beat the tiger, huh?"   
Shampoo's voice was also more subdued. "Shampoo... kill tiger. Very bad hurt. Almost die when try go back to village. Take long time to recover. See Ranma not crazy after learn Nekoken?"   
"Well... I was... pretty messed up after the third time. Those c-c-animals are nasty when they're hungry. But, yeah, I guess I got over it and got training again."   
"Great-grandmother say thoughts go away."   
"That's good. It sure was weird, imagining myself attacking a c-cat like that..."   
Shampoo nodded. "Shampoo never afraid of own curse before."   
"No kidding. Anyway, I gotta get back to the dojo."   
"We practice tonight?"   
"Yeah. I'm gonna be a little late, but I'll be there."   
"Ranma remember promise to be man when fight?"   
He didn't quite remember _promising_ that, but... "Uh... yeah, okay."   
"Is good. See tonight." That said, Shampoo took off down the alleyway, heading back towards the Nekohanten. For his part, Ranma simply exited the alleyway, resuming his walk down the street. 

* * *

"Yum! This sure beats your cooking by a long shot!"   
Akane gritted her teeth and clenched her fists until her knuckles whitened. "You... you... you just wait until I've had a little more practice."   
"That'll be a few years, for sure."   
"That's what you thought about martial arts too! And I can kick _your_ butt easily!"   
"Hold!"   
Akane sighed. "What now?"   
Nabiki shook her head. "Bad answer. That's a sore point with Ranma. You don't want to remind him like that."   
"I'm not going to be a doormat!"   
"Of course not. But you could have phrased that better. A lot better."   
"How?"   
"You could have said 'Maybe, but it's just like martial arts. Practice makes perfect'."   
Akane reluctantly nodded her head. "Okay."   
Nabiki nodded approvingly. It wasn't easy, but she had high hopes that this 'training' would pay off in the long run. She couldn't very well do anything about Ranma and his amazing ability to say the exact wrong thing at any given time. But she could do plenty about Akane's amazing ability to misinterpret anything in the worst possible way. And she was doing that right now.   
For the past hour, she had gone through the bulk of what Ranma was likely to say at any given time, and showed Akane how to diffuse any possible conflicts before they even started. It was tiring work, but like most martial artists, Ranma was a predictable person. And so were his insults.   
"Alright," she decided. "Let's say that you've just gotten out of the movie. And you both feel like a quick bite to eat before going back home."   
"So we go to a restaurant?"   
"And Ranma says 'Hey, Ucchan's is just a few blocks away'."   
Akane frowned. "The only reason he'd say that was if he planned on trying to make me jealous!"   
"Ahem."   
"I mean... 'I don't want to eat there'."   
"So Ranma says 'How come?'"   
Akane let out an exasperated breath. "I don't know!"   
Nabiki sighed. "You have to think about these things, little sister. I would suggest something along the lines of 'We'd never eat our meal in peace if we ate there. Ukyou would think we're on a date or something'."   
"Why would I say that?"   
"One, Ranma will love the idea of no fighting happening. Two, he'll agree with the idea that the two of you aren't on a date. Three, there's plenty of other places to eat at near that theatre."   
"Oh. I guess that makes sense."   
"Of course it does. Now... try this one. Ranma orders too much food, and realizes that he can't pay for it. So he tries to borrow some money from you. What do you do?"   
"Tell him to find someone else to borrow money from... I mean, say no?"   
"Keep trying, Akane."   
"I'm not just going to give him money! I'm not exactly rich, you know."   
"So you lend it to him. And to let him keep his pride, you say that he can pay you back whenever he's able to. And that's the end of the problem. You finish your meal and you go home. What's the last thing you have to do?"   
Akane blushed. "I'm not going to _kiss_ him!"   
Nabiki groaned. "You've been watching too many romance movies, Akane. Any kissing on this outing either means that things went _really_ well, or that someone is moving too fast. Try again."   
"Uh... Remind him to pay me back?"   
"No, you split up, and go home separately, so no one suspects anything. Do I have to explain why?"   
"No, I understand that."   
Nabiki stood up wearily. "Alright then. That should cover all the worst case scenarios. You two should both arrive home alive."   
"I still don't get why _I_ have to do all this, and he doesn't."   
"Once you start, I'll bet that he'll reciprocate and act just as nice. You just have to set a good example. And once he gets _really_ interested, I'll be happy to offer a little advice to him. For a price, of course."   
Akane laughed at that. "Of course." 

* * *

end part 6


	7. Part 7

Valley of the Wind Productions presents...   
Power   
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Intrasonic 

> brackets denote Chinese speech 

* * *

Part 7

* * *

It was nearing 7:00 in the evening as Akane stood at the bus stop. Two blocks south and one block east of the dojo, it was adequately out of sight that there was no chance of anyone from home seeing her get on. More importantly, no one would see her get on the same bus as Ranma.   
Paranoid? Perhaps, but Nabiki had stressed the importance of planning ahead. If a minor precaution like this could avoid a conflict in the long run, it was smart to take it. All the better to make this a successful date, of course.   
Not a date, Akane corrected quickly. Simply an outing, with a secondary purpose of helping her make up her mind about Ranma. To decide whether or not he was actually worth pursuing. She was positive that the option was open, and Nabiki had thought so too. Not only was she interested in Ranma, he was no doubt interested in her, her older sister had stated. This outing was just as much a chance for him to see if he was really interested in her.   
And why wouldn't he be? She was cute enough that half the male population of Furinken had fought to date her. And she was a martial artist, just like the rest of his fiancees. That had always been the case. And more recently, she'd proven to him that she wasn't just a second-rate martial artist. And she'd been extra-nice to him lately. Even he couldn't have failed to notice all this. And considering how that combination had made him interested in his other fiancees, how could he not become interested in her now?   
Having followed this logical train of thought for the nth time, Akane tried to allow it to reassure her again. Logical or not, her stomach didn't seem quite convinced. It was presently engaged in various acrobatics and trying to tell her how nervous she was   
feeling at the moment.   
She vehemently pushed aside those feelings. She wasn't nervous. Not at all. There was absolutely no reason for her to be nervous. After all, what did she have to lose? Ranma? How big of a deal was that?   
Akane leaned back against the side of the bus stop. Sighing, she inwardly admitted that perhaps she _was_ nervous. And that perhaps she was more than a little hopeful at the outcome of this... outing. She'd seen an entirely new side of Ranma lately. One that didn't insult her, but actually complimented her. One that didn't look down at her, but that respected her. One that was tolerable... enjoyable... perhaps even desirable.   
And this 'outing' was quite possibly going to determine whether she was ever going to have a chance at it. 

* * *

Ranma was presently deep in thought.   
Some decisions were meant to be made with fists and feet. But some lent themselves to careful thought and planning. Years of training had made him an expert at making the first kind of decision, but they had only done a little for the second kind. As a result, when convinced that careful thought was necessary, Ranma did it... very carefully.   
His present dilemma was not an unusual one, but important things were at stake. Very important things. Things that he could regret for a long time to come if he made the wrong decision.   
With a quiet squeak, the bus he was riding on came to a halt, the doors sliding open to admit a passenger.   
Akane.   
After paying her fare and briefly exchanging pleasantries with the driver, she scanned the length of the bus. Spotting Ranma, she came over to sit next to him. "Hi."   
Ranma was abruptly jolted from his thoughts as he realized she was there. "Oh... uh, hi, Akane. Didn't notice you get on."   
Rapidly, his mind re-cycled through the various options he had contemplated. He still hadn't made up his mind. Akane was going to be at the movies with him, she still had the tickets, and-   
Akane was silent at the moment as well. Her mind was presently in the process of freezing up. How to respond? Act casual... this was just an outing, not a date-   
"Hey, 'kane?" he began.   
Act casual. "Y-yes?"   
Reluctantly, but seeing no other way to make up his mind, Ranma posed his dilemma to her. "D'you think I should use my girl-form to get some free food at the theatre?"   
Akane blinked. "Excuse me?"   
"Should I scam some food at the theatre with my girl-form?"   
Akane forced her mind to focus on the question. Nabiki had talked with her about this issue. There was a good chance, she had said, that Ranma would use his (admittedly well-endowed) female form to charm some free food from the theatre confectionaries. If that happened, she was supposed to downplay the matter, but suggest that he immediately turn male again afterwards. But Nabiki hadn't mentioned what to say if Ranma actually asked permission...   
And why was he asking permission anyway? Was he actually so interested in her that he was valuing her opinion? And if that was the case, how should she respond?   
"...Akane? You okay?"   
She blinked, realizing that she'd contemplated the issue a little too long while staring at Ranma. "Y-yes, I'm fine. Uh... I guess it's okay. But you should turn back to a guy after."   
Ranma smiled. "Right!"   
Akane briefly allowed herself to enjoy the smile. Truth be told, Ranma _did_ have a nice smile at times. Casual, yet sincere. Happy, yet not in a sickly-joyful sort of way. Were she ever to list attributes for a dream-boyfriend, his smile would be a lot like Ranma's... she quickly squelched the thought before she was caught staring again.   
Ranma _was_ happy. Akane had actually agreed to let him scam food at the theatres! That meant he could load up on junk-food, and she wouldn't get mad at him and hit him! Or even worse, withhold the ticket to the movie.   
Yes, they both decided inwardly, this was going to be a good evening. 

* * *

If Nabiki felt any trepidation upon approaching the Nekohanten, it didn't affect her composure in the slightest. And why should it? The old maxim was true; only a fool felt no fear, but only a bigger fool let it manipulate their actions.   
Several anonymous phone calls from a public phone had confirmed to her that the Kunous, and Ukyou were all where they should be. At home. But no one was picking up the phone at the Nekohanten, which was enough to make her worried.   
The lights to the restaurant were off, although an upstairs light was dimly lit. Which once again brought into question the reason for no one answering the phone. Martial artists were frugal by nature, she'd always noticed. One of their more intelligent traits, in her opinion. Carelessly leaving a light on wasn't in character at all. Most didn't seem to bother with lights, preferring to use the sun while it was up, and not needing light when it was dark. Upon the door, a sign was affixed, bearing a short, concise explanation of the reason for the dark downstairs.   
"The Nekohanten will be closed for this week," she read. "Apologies for the inconvenience."   
Closed? It had been quite some time since _that_ had happened. And by incredible coincidence, this was only a few days after Akane had decided that it would a be a good idea to pummel an Amazon warrior into the ground. Nabiki had no idea why a Kiss of Death hadn't been issued yet, but she didn't particularly care to have that changed.   
"Can I help you, Tendou-girl?"   
Nabiki couldn't help herself; she started. Recovering quickly, she turned around and put on her most unassuming smile. "Cologne."   
"A lovely evening out, is it not?"   
"Quite. I must say, you're quiet, even for a martial artist."   
"Thank-you. If you were hoping for a meal, I regret to inform you that our restaurant is closed for the week."   
"I read as much. Were you taking a vacation?"   
"An Amazon vacation, if you will."   
"We all have our own type of amusements," Nabiki acknowledged. "I haven't seen Mousse around lately? Would he be around, by any chance?"   
"I'm afraid not. Since the restaurant doesn't need maintaining, I sent the boy on an errand back to our village."   
Somehow, Nabiki had expected that answer in advance. "What about Shampoo? If Mousse isn't here, I'd like to at least talk with her."   
Cologne raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid that she's not in right now. Would I be able to help you with something?"   
"I don't think so. I mean, no offence, but you're not quite a young Amazon anymore."   
"No offence taken. I'm afraid that I'm most certainly not. Did you specifically need a young Amazon for something?"   
"I'm doing a cross-cultural project in school, and it would be a great help to me if I could talk with someone approximately my own age from a different culture."   
"I see. I can relay the message to her when she gets back, if you like?"   
Nabiki waved the offer aside. "That's alright. I wouldn't want to trouble you. I'll get in touch with her myself. Besides, our place only goes so long before placing an order with your restaurant. Thank-you, anyway."   
"You're quite welcome."   
Nabiki started to turn and walk away.   
"Tendou-girl?"   
She stopped. "Yes?"   
"What did you _really_ want?"   
Nabiki's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she turned to face Cologne again. "Begging your pardon, but I just told you."   
Cologne idly tapped her staff on the ground. "I have been a martial artist for three centuries, you know. And my five primary senses all tell me that you're being perfectly honest with me."   
A raised eyebrow. "And..."   
"But I have developed a few other senses besides those five. And they're all telling me quite clearly that you're lying. So tell me, what did you really want?"   
There was something about a martial artist who _wasn't_ stupid that was almost enough to strike some fear in Nabiki. Almost. "Nothing that would concern you."   
The expression on the Amazon's face indicated that she didn't believe the answer for a moment. "I see. Would you have a moment?"   
Tread carefully, Nabiki reminded herself. "I suppose so."   
"Come in," Cologne invited. "I only ask a moment of your time." 

* * *

"You are a shrewd individual, Tendou-girl. I'm well-aware of your high aptitude in certain areas, even if not from personal experience."   
"Thank-you, I think."   
"That _was_ a compliment. But I think you're well aware of my expertise in many areas as well, even if it hasn't been from personal experience."   
"Of course."   
"So tell me, how did you come by your exceptional talent?"   
Nabiki maintained a neutral expression. "I learn quickly."   
"I'm well aware of your reputation, although I know some people are always willing to believe the worst of you. But seriously, you developed your talent over time, did you not? Many years of applying yourself, no doubt. Through study, dedication, sacrifice, and occasionally, failure?"   
"You could say that."   
"So tell me, do you see any similarities between yourself and I?"   
"If you trying to say that you became the person you are through study, dedication, sacrifice and occasionally, failure... I won't argue with that. Your point?"   
"So what do you have to show for it all?"   
"You surprise me, Cologne. Trying to be my conscience?"   
"I wouldn't dream of it. But what do you have to show for all your effort?"   
The question required little thought on Nabiki's part. "Quite simple. I have control over my life."   
"Complete control?"   
"Of course not. But more than most people. In most circumstances, I have the power to change things to work in my favour. What if I were ask _you_ the same thing?"   
Cologne chuckled at the question. "Then you'd probably get the same answer."   
Nabiki finally scowled. "I don't quite see your point to this. If you think that you've given me any new revelations, you might want to think again. As I said before, I don't need you for a conscience. I have one of my own, and I answered those questions a long time ago, to my satisfaction."   
"Nor do I. Be patient, and I will explain. So... tell me why it is that a smart, intelligent, and capable girl such as yourself never goes to movies? Or plays sports? Or eats out in restaurants for fun? Or merely hangs around with her friends? Or goes on dates?"   
"I have more important things to do."   
"But if you had the time, you'd like to."   
"If I could create time, I'd rule the world."   
"You have your own priorities," Cologne agreed. "I understand completely. What does your family think about you?"   
"My sisters and I are each unique. As you say, we each have our own priorities."   
"But do they understand _your_ priorities? Do they understand how it is that a person could willingly devote their entire self to one goal, to the exclusion of other goals? Your older sister might, I think. She works hard to maintain your home, does she   
not?"   
"Don't involve Kasumi in this discussion."   
"I mean no offense. Although she would make a poor Amazon, I most certainly respect her dedication. But what about your younger sister? She calls herself a martial artist, correct?"   
"That's right."   
"So why do I always see her out with her friends? Going to movies? Eating ice cream? Doing homework? Watching television?" Cologne frowned momentarily. "I fail to see how those are helping her become a better martial artist."   
"That's your area of expertise, isn't it? If you don't think that they do, they probably don't."   
"So how can she call herself a martial artist? She trains, I am sure. But does she train as someone who lives and breathes for her martial arts? Or as someone who merely does it as a hobby? Would she sacrifice everything in her life for the sake of her martial arts? Or do you think her practice time will dwindle if other concerns became more pressing?"   
Nabiki shrugged. "I suppose more the latter than the former."   
"I quite agree. Perhaps you might wish to meditate on that." 

* * *

Some rumours about over-crowding regulations, under-staffing, and too many people paying for tickets with credit cards. Whatever the real reason was, the line-up was long and moving painfully slow. Fortunately, Ranma had quickly hit upon a plan for advancing through the line-up faster than normal. It was based upon the fact that the twenty individuals in front of them were almost all young, male, and dateless. And the fact that a lot of them were talking about various male interests. And the fact that   
Ranma had turned female in advance.   
"Just play along, 'kane," she was saying with a smirk.   
Nabiki had warned Akane to expect the occasional stunt like this, and had recommended that she just enjoy it, rather than get angry about it. So far, Akane decided, she hadn't seen anything to get angry over-   
"Oooh!" Ranma squealed. "Are you _really_ the captain of H.H.'s volleyball team?"   
Akane groaned inwardly. For someone who hated his female form so much, Ranma was possibly the most seductive flirt in all of Nerima. Most girls wouldn't have been caught dead acting the way he did.   
"That's right, babe," the guy agreed. "Why, you should have been at our last game!"   
"I heard about it! They said that you scored LOTS of points!"   
Gradually, Akane became aware that Ranma's foot was nudging her along. Bewildered, she moved accordingly, even as Ranma continued to let the volleyball player ramble on about his countless achievements.   
Several minutes later, Akane realized that Ranma was now talking to a different male, one that was two places down the line. Now the conversation had turned to baseball. Apparently the present guy was on Kholkoz High's baseball team. Akane hadn't even known the school _had_ one (Although she was certainly familiar with their skating team).   
"...and I just wound up and smashed the ball right out of the park!"   
"WOW!!! I've only watched a bit of baseball..."   
"I think the sport's got potential. They get paid tons of money over in North America, so I might even be able to get in that way. You gotta try if you want to make it big..." 

* * *

Within several moments, they had shown their tickets and were inside the theatre, a sizable number of guys still waiting in line and wondering where a certain girl had taken off to. And then there were the few that actually saw Ranma and Akane entering the theatre together, which lead to an impressive variety of conclusions, which then lead to an impressive variety of cursing and crying.   
None of which the two noticed.   
"So what d'you want to eat?" Ranma asked as they passed the confection stands.   
Akane hesitated once again. This whole outing business was getting easier, she decided, now that she'd come to accept that Ranma was actually trying to be nice. But it was still a bit of a shock to hear him offering to pay for both of them...   
"I... just a medium popcorn and a drink."   
"That's it?" Ranma asked in surprise.   
"Um... yeah."   
The redhead shrugged. "Okay. I'll meet you in the theatre 'kay?"   
And he hadn't even asked for some money, Akane mused. Maybe Ranma had simply been replaced with his polite alter-ego. Or maybe he was taking this more seriously than just an 'outing'. Although she would normally have found the first possibility to be more believable, it was a little different to actually be on the receiving end.   
"Okay. I'll find us some good seats." 

* * *

It was ten minutes later that Ranma found Akane in the theatre, having turned male once again.   
"Sorry I took so long," he apologized.   
"No problem," she replied, noting his change of gender with some satisfaction. "The movie isn't going to start for another-"   
Akane finally noticed what he was carrying as he sat down next to her. "How much food did you get?!"   
"Not much," he replied easily. "Here's your drink and popcorn."   
Akane dumbly accepted the food while doing a brief count of what remained. "How many hotdogs did you get?!?"   
"Only four. I got popcorn and nachos too, y'know."   
"Um..." Theatre food was theatre food, Akane noted, already catching the aroma of the pile of hotdogs. Which was to say, it wasn't as good as Kasumi's cooking, but it was infinitely better than her own. Not that she would ever have admitted it. "...of course."   
Ranma briefly contemplated Akane's envious look, finally coming to a decision. "Want one?"   
Akane accepted one, taking a small bite before asking the relevant question. "How much did this cost?!"   
"Nothing. Anything-Goes Food Scamming."   
She looked back at her hotdog, now debating whether she should stuff the evidence under the seat in front of her. "You _stole_ it all?"   
"Of course not! I ain't like pop, y'know. Daisuke works here. If you work here, you're allowed to treat your date."   
Akane stared. "Excuse me?"   
Ranma smirked, inhaling half of his own hotdog. "Yeah, everybody who works here thinks that Daisuke's dating this cute little redhead with a huge appetite. We've been doing it for a few months now. Nobody else from Furinken works here, so we all laugh about it at school."   
Then again, maybe she'd placed a little too much faith in Ranma's generosity, Akane decided disgustedly. Fortunately, Nabiki's warning came to mind. When all was said and done, the food was free, and it was harmless. It wasn't worth getting angry over, especially since this was the first time she'd ever seen Ranma scam food for someone besides himself. Maybe this was just his way of being considerate. And the hotdog wasn't bad either...   
"Anything-Goes Food Scamming?" she inquired incredulously.   
"Sure."   
"So what happens when somebody from Furinken starts working here?"   
Ranma smirked, finishing off another hotdog. "Ah... I'll have to train and develop new tactics, of course. A martial artist must never stop improving their technique!" 

* * *

"I suppose that you're going to start training for drunken martial arts now?"   
"Hey, it might have potential..."   
"I can't believe you. You're actually considering it, aren't you?"   
"I didn't say that!"   
"Uh huh."   
"But think of the unpredictability factor..."   
Akane groaned. The movie had been good, all things considered. Certainly not romantic, but she hadn't been expecting that. The mere fact that Ranma had actually gotten/scammed her food was probably something that should be taken as an effort towards friendliness. An unusual sort of effort, but Ranma wasn't exactly a typical schoolboy either. But heaven help everyone if he actually tried learning drunken martial arts...   
"Ah, I betcha Happousai already knows the style," Ranma was saying. "And maybe pop does too."   
"It's just a movie," Akane reminded him. The two had left the theatre, and were now making their way down a main street. Not quite close enough to be considered a romantic couple, she noted carefully. But they definitely weren't two strangers who just happened to be walking in the same direction. Perhaps she should test the waters just _a little_...   
"You... want to get something to drink?" she inquired, trying to keep her voice neutral. Nabiki had warned her against sounding _too_ eager. Or sounding like one of Ranma's other fiancees.   
She seemed not to have succeeded, as Ranma blinked in surprise. After a moment, he smiled at her and nodded. "Uh... sure. Ucchan's is pretty close by. She makes good tea."   
Akane swallowed. Her sister was obviously prophetic. And worst of all, Ranma was right. Ukyou's restaurant was only two blocks ahead... Nabiki had recommended that she suggest a different restaurant.   
Looking around quickly, she spotted one. "There's... a coffee shop across the street. And you ate three hotdogs back in the theatre. And the rest of my popcorn."   
"Well, you _said_ that you were full..."   
Nabiki hadn't covered this avenue of events, Akane realized. How to reply? "Well... I've never tried this place before. Why not try something new? You've been to Ukyou's lots of times, right?" Many, many, _many_ times, she noted mentally. Would Ranma insist on heading towards Ukyou and more free food, or would he-   
Ranma slowly nodded, changing his direction. "Okay."   
Akane quickly altered hers to match, unable to keep a smile from her face. One crisis averted. This evening just got better and better. "Drunken martial arts probably doesn't even exist in the first place, you know."   
"I betcha it does. I've seen stranger."   
"You can't be serious."   
"Sure. Me and pop ran into a guy who practised some style that specialized in losing. He thought that if he lost often enough and bad enough, he'd somehow fall through bottom and wind up being the best. Or somethin' like that. And we found some cult that had a formula for a potion that smelled really bad. Anybody who tried to fight them would faint before they could even get close enough to fight. And then there was this gang who..."   
Akane let Ranma continue to recite of his list of strange fighting styles, unable to keep from laughing a little. In lieu of what else was out there, maybe drunken martial arts wasn't so strange after all.   
"I've never seen any styles like _those_ before," she observed, not without a hint of scepticism.   
"Well, you don't really see that kind of stuff in Japan. China's a weird place sometimes. And it was all training."   
"Uh... right. And what about normal training? In a dojo?"   
Ranma gave her a blank look in return. "Anything-Goes? In a dojo?"   
"Right."   
"I always train outside."   
Actually, Ranma was right, Akane noted. Aside from sparring over the koi pond with his father, Ranma usually trained out in the yard. Whenever he fought, it was outside, wherever he'd happened to be attacked. If he fought in the dojo, it was usually because he'd been found there. When he did use the dojo, it was usually only for meditation.   
"My dad taught _me_ in the dojo," she informed him.   
A frown creased Ranma's face, but it disappeared a moment later. "That's... not a good thing," he finally replied. "Anything-Goes means that you gotta be able to adapt. And the only way you learn to adapt by getting into weird things. That's why pop took me on a ten-year training trip. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger."   
"So how long before you decide to give school a chance to 'kill' you again?"   
Ranma swallowed. "Well..."   
Akane cursed herself for asking the question. Nabiki had warned her not to broach the subject in the first place. "Or, how long until your father lets you stop training?"   
He appeared to be more at ease with that question. "I dunno. Pop's a rough trainer."   
"I could talk to him, if you wanted to."   
"N-no-that's okay. A martial artist's gotta train, right?"   
"Not twenty-four hours a day!"   
"I ain't training now, am I?"   
Akane was silent for a moment. Was he just mincing words? Or was he implying that he'd given up training time to be with her? Or something else entirely? "Well... you don't have to _obsess_ over your training."   
"Yes I do."   
"But if you spend all your time doing martial arts, you won't have time for anything else."   
"If I don't, then how am I gonna be the best martial artist?"   
How he could say _that_ in lieu of recent events, Akane had no idea. But Nabiki had strongly warned her not to remind Ranma of that subject. "So what if you wind up being the best martial artist in the world? What then?"   
He shrugged in reply. "Then I keep training to get better."   
"But what would the point be? You'd already be the best, what difference would being better make?"   
"That's not the point. The important thing is to keep getting better."   
Akane frowned. "But there wouldn't be any point. You would already be able to beat anybody else, right?"   
The look Ranma gave her was a strange combination of sadness, anger, and disgust. "That's all it is to you, isn't it?"   
"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"   
"Don't you care about _anything_ besides beating people up? I can't believe you even call yourself a martial artist."   
Akane gaped for a moment before recovering. "Excuse me?! And what is _that_ supposed to mean? Who's been winning our sparring matches!?!"   
Ranma glared at her. "Is that all you think martial arts is? Just beating people up?"   
"What else do you _think_ it is?"   
"Forget it! No wonder you're such a lousy martial artist!"   
She immediately shifted into a fighting stance. "Just try and back those words up!"   
Ranma turned and started to walk away. "Go fight Kunou or someone. I got better things to do."   
"Why you-" Akane lunged at him, fist already in motion.   
It missed by a fraction of an inch, Ranma having managed to move sideways in time. With a crash, the concrete wall behind him took the full force of the punch, the entire section shattering almost instantly.   
Ranma glanced between Akane and the damage. "Geez, no wonder you're such a lousy martial artist. Can't believe I ever thought you were nice."   
She withdrew her fist from the remains of the wall. "Ranma, you..."   
He sprang away from her, landing a short distance away. "Gonna hit me again? That still ain't gonna change anything. You're a pathetic excuse for a martial artist, and you ain't foolin' us with that stupid act of yours! Enjoy it while it lasts!"   
With that, he leapt on to the wall a short distance away and sprinted off, leaving Akane staring dumbly after his fading form.   
She'd done it. With absolutely no help from anyone else this time.   
After an absolutely near-perfect evening with him, she'd just _had_ to mention that she was stronger than he was. After Nabiki had explicitly warned her not to. And within a few short minutes, with nothing but a few harsh words, everything had been ruined. All because Ranma simply couldn't handle the fact that she was stronger than he was. Stupid jerk. Stupid, rude, conceited, egocentric, macho, sex-changing jerk.   
She swallowed, staring down at the ground. It just wasn't fair. All she'd wanted was a pleasant evening with him. Just a quiet, enjoyable, uninterrupted evening so that she could make up her mind on something that had been driving her to istraction for far too long. And she'd almost made up her mind. And somehow, in a few scant moments, everything had completely fallen apart. Degenerated to the point where even her sister might not be able to fix them.   
Well, Nabiki would certainly realize how things had gone when Ranma returned home without her, she decided sadly, starting to walk home herself. Maybe if she walked slow enough, everyone would be asleep by the time she arrived home...   
Except that Ranma wasn't headed home.   
The realization hit Akane as she realized that she was walking the exact opposite direction that he had departed. There was nothing but some undeveloped forest land in that direction. He would never make it back that way. Either he'd been so angry that he'd completely forgotten his way home, or... he was going somewhere else. And before he'd left, he'd specifically said something about her not fooling 'us'.   
Who would _that_ be? Was he going to see them? Was he doing something with someone behind her back? If he was, it certainly wasn't with anyone back at the dojo.   
Akane clenched her fists as she spun around, starting down the way that she'd seen Ranma leave. It wasn't like she wanted to be home anytime soon. And this demanded some investigation. She'd find him and whoever he was with if it took her all night. And the longer it took, the longer it would take to get back home again.   
Maybe this was all just a misunderstanding. They'd had plenty of those in past, hadn't they? This time, she would find Ranma and sort things out. Somehow. It was just a little misunderstanding between them. No big deal. How hard could it be to iron out the issue? Ranma never stayed angry for very long, after all. And then this evening would still have a happy ending. 

* * *

Punch.   
PunchPunch.   
Punch.   
PunchPunch.   
Punch.   
PunchPunchPunch.   
Punch.   
PunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchP   
unchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPu   
nchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPun   
chPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunc   
hPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunch   
PunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunchPunch-   
It got repetitive after awhile.   
It got _insanely_ repetitive.   
It would have been a good time to learn Morse code.   
But that way lies madness.   
And terminal boredom, Shampoo added mentally, continuing to hammer away at the trunk of the tree with her fists. She'd been doing it for the past few hours in the cause of improving her speed. And while it didn't seem as idiotic as smashing one's self against a boulder, it certainly didn't feel any more intelligent.   
The pain in her fists had left about an hour ago, to be replaced by a sense of numbness, which was somewhat welcome. It wasn't that she was hitting the tree particularly hard. With some concentration, she probably could have flattened the tree with one blow. But speed was the goal, not strength. Strength could come afterwards. That was what Ranma had said, so she would take it at face value. He'd spent several days locked in his cursed form, super-sensitive to heat, forever serving food to perverted males for lousy tips, and trying to pull chestnuts out of a fire with his bare hands. But it had worked. She'd done more than her share of the serving food part; she might as well advance the training process. If that was the sort of persistence required to learn the technique, then she would more than rise to the challenge.   
"...stupidstupidstupid-"   
The voice was easy enough to recognize. Ranma had finally arrived, so now some practising of the more enjoyable variety could take place. Perhaps Japanese had trouble grasping the idea that trying to beat the life out of someone in combat could be a sign of friendship, but she knew otherwise. Fortunately, Ranma seemed to know have missed out on that particular Japanese lesson while growing up.   
Although Ranma sounded angry at the moment. Not an irritated type of angry. More of a thoroughly disgusted and frustrated type of angry. One that she sincerely hoped wasn't directed towards her. Coming into view he was all but radiating battle aura as he continued to mutter things under his breath. His fists were clenched in a way that boded poorly for anything he decided to hit.   
"Ranma okay?"   
He stopped short upon realizing that she was only a few paces away. "Oh... hi Shampoo. Didn't notice you there."   
"Ranma angry?" It was more of a statement than a question.   
"Stupid tomboy. I can't believe I actually thought..." he trailed off, appearing to get himself under control again. "It's nothin'."   
"Why Ranma angry?"   
His fists clenched again. "Stupid tomboy. I can't believe she actually considers herself a martial artist!"   
He'd had another fight with Akane, in other words. Probably something to do with the recent business surrounding Akane's new-found power. "What happen?"   
Ranma shook his head, leaning back against a convenient tree. Sighing, he look across at her. "How come you train so hard?"   
"Why train?" Shampoo blinked at the question, caught off-guard. After a moment's thought, "Want become stronger."   
"How come you want to become stronger?"   
She shrugged. "Is what Amazon warrior does. Train. Fight. Become strong. Teach others. Is life. Why Ranma ask?"   
He smiled wanly. "She doesn't get it. She doesn't understand."   
"You say Shampoo not understand?"   
He shook his head. "Nah. I mean that Akane doesn't understand. To her, it's all about beatin' people up. That's it. That's the only reason she trains. And she thinks that makes her a martial artist. If there was nobody to beat up, she'd probably quit training completely."   
"That why she start fight with Shampoo. Strong enough to beat Shampoo with new power."   
"Hmph. We're gonna figure out what that power is sooner or later. Or else we'll just get so good that her source of power won't make any difference."   
Shampoo thought she felt her heart skip a beat. "Ranma say 'we'?"   
He shrugged. "Well, I mean, we _are_ training together, right?"   
"Before, Ranma say 'I'."   
He turned a little red at the comment, but didn't deny it. "I mean... well, that was before, y'know?   
"Shampoo not know. What Ranma mean?"   
"Well... it was _before_, right?"   
"Before what?"   
"Argh!" He gave her a frustrated look. "What d'you _want_ me to say?"   
She returned the look. "Want Ranma tell why he say 'I' before, but 'We' now! What hard about that?!"   
"It's just..." He looked away. "It's nothin' okay? Nothing at all. You want to spar?"   
Shampoo frowned at the topic change, but let it slide. It wasn't often that Ranma actually got angry _at_ her. On account of their unintentional thought-sharing the previous day, she'd gained something of an idea exactly how her always embracing him made him feel. But he actually seemed angry with her at the moment. Although she didn't see any reason for him to be hostile towards her.   
She settled into a sparring position. "Ranma promise fight as man," she reminded him with a thin smile. "Shampoo say he need all help he can get today!"   
Ranma smirked in spite of his mood. The evening's events were already being pushed to the back corner of his mind. At least some people still knew how to enjoy themselves. Unlike a certain other wannabe-martial artist. And there were some moves by Jackie Chan that were simply _begging_ to be tested out in the real world.   
He barely knocked aside the incoming punch, finally getting into a combat stance against his opponent. "Challenge accepted." 

* * *

Shampoo rolled twice before she was able to slow her momentum enough to stand up again. Ranma had thrown her _hard_ after intercepting her last flurry of punches. It was mildly painful, but intoxicating addictive at the same time. She'd have let it happen again, if it wasn't even more fun to return the favour.   
It had been so long since she'd been able to fight like this. The best in her age group back home, with only the occasional pathetic male fighter seeking to impress her, the only true challenge she was ever given was against Cologne, which didn't even begin to approach a fair fight. Even here in Nerima, she was seldom the focus of any notable fighter, unlike Ranma. She'd been in battle with him before, and always grown impatient for the next occurrence afterwards. Ukyou and Kodachi were excellent in their own rites, but neither was a true match for an Amazon warrior trained in more weapons than she could keep count of. Between okonomiyaki chef's bizarre cooking-styled fighting, and the psychotic gymnast's hit-and-run distance style, neither felt like a true fight.   
But against Ranma, everything was different. His raw speed, power and agility, so much like her own style. Yet somehow incorporating an insane amount of cunning and unpredictability into the mixture all the same. Against him, a fight felt like a fight back home. Honest, thrilling, yet violent in every way. Except that her opponent was able to match anything she could bring to bear. He was the better fighter, but not so much that she couldn't still dream about catching up to him one day in the future.   
"What's wrong?" Ranma was asking.   
She gave him a curious look in reply.   
"Your punches are really slow," he clarified.   
Her punches felt like they were pushing lead weights, to say the least. "Shampoo practice speed before Ranma come. She do what he say, but arms tired now."   
Ranma's gaze turned back towards the tree that the Amazon had been practising on before. The evidence was clear enough, even in the low light. "You can't fight as well without your arms, y'know. Maybe you ought to take a break."   
"Shampoo manage."   
"You'll fight better if you take a break."   
Shampoo shook her head. "Not tired."   
"Your arms are. So practise something else."   
Reasonable enough. "Aura technique?"   
Ranma nodded, sitting down on one of the few patches of grass that hadn't been ripped up from their constant sparring. "We'll try it again one at a time so we don't have any problem like last time. Then we can spar some more after."   
Shampoo took a seat across from him, sitting down cross-legged. Her arms flashed grateful signals of relief, but she only paid them a moment's notice. Aches and pains were all part of the training process, and a cheap enough price in the end.   
"So who goes first?" Ranma wanted to know.   
A good question. Despite their mutual agreement to secrecy after the last accident, it was still rather unnerving to know that someone had just gotten an intimate look inside your head. And neither felt like taking the chance of letting it happen a second time. "Shampoo try first."   
"'kay. You're not too tired?"   
Shampoo bristled a little at the implication. "Shampoo only warmed up! You think Shampoo weak?"   
Ranma bristled in response. "Geez! I was just asking! What's _your_ problem?"   
"Ranma never rest because tired! So why he want Shampoo rest when tired? Shampoo train since she able to walk! Great-grandmother train her to be best Amazon warrior ever! Shampoo train all the time! Many time, she almost die!"   
The Amazon sucked in a breath. "And Ranma want her stop because _TIRED_!?!"   
Ranma didn't have an answer to that.   
"Maybe Ranma want Shampoo become strong like _Akane_?"   
He winced at that, but shook his head. "Fine. Forget I said anything, okay? Let's practice this technique."   
Shampoo crossed her arms under her chest, still scowling wordlessly at him.   
Ranma returned the scowl, looking away. "What's the matter? If you're not tired, why didn't you just say so in the first place?"   
"What Shampoo need do before Ranma stop look down at her?"   
"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?"   
"Ranma still think Shampoo weak!"   
"I never said that!"   
"Ranma _always_ ask if she tired! Like Shampoo only little child! He think he only fighter in world, that he take pity on Shampoo?"   
"What? You think you're stronger than me?"   
"Maybe Ranma stronger than Shampoo. So maybe Ranma father do more bad thing to Ranma than Great-grandmother do to Shampoo. You pity Shampoo for that? Ranma ashamed fight with Shampoo?"   
"Hey! I never said _that_!"   
"Then why Ranma look down at Shampoo? She train whole life, she never run away, she never afraid die, and she not stop now!" She met his eyes. "Ranma think he do better?"   
Silence echoed between the two for an indeterminate period of time, neither deigning to say anything to the other as they locked eyes in a staring match. If such a state could be considered combat, neither side was yielding a fraction of an inch.   
It was Ranma who finally broke the staring match, his gaze shifting down until he was staring at the ground between them. "I guess... maybe that's why I said... 'We'."   
Shampoo's face softened somewhat in reply. "Ranma... explain to Shampoo?"   
This time, he tried to explain. "I... I dunno. I guess you're right. You're in this as much as I am, and you've been practising as hard as I have. So... I guess we're in this one together."   
"Then Ranma not ashamed fight with Shampoo?"   
"I never said that! I mean, we're both getting better, right? If you weren't any good, I wouldn't be getting any better, right? And besides..." he looked away slightly, face flushing somewhat red.. "...it's fun."   
Shampoo leaned closer, looking suspicious. "Ranma tell _truth_?"   
Ranma finally bristled again. "Hey! I ain't lyin' to you!"   
She smirked in reply. "Shampoo know. Ranma bad, bad, _bad_ liar. Not lie to save life. So if Ranma not ashamed fight with Shampoo, why he always ask if she tired?"   
"What's wrong with that? We can't practice if you collapse or something!"   
"Is insult to ask if Amazon tired. Like saying that Amazon weak."   
"I didn't mean that! When you practice, you should practice with everything. So if your arms are tired, you stop and do something that doesn't use your arms."   
"Great-grandmother teach that when practice, practice with what weakest to make strong."   
"That's no good, because you don't learn how to use everything together. It ain't no good having strong arms if you can't use 'em with the rest of your body. You can't succeed at the Anything-Goes style unless you can _do_ anything _with_ anything. So if you give your arms a break, they'll recover, and then you can fight with everything at once, right?"   
Shampoo looked thoughtful. "Is different then what Great-grandmother teach Shampoo."   
"It works for me, doesn't it?"   
The logic was simple, but fairly intact. "So Ranma tell Shampoo first next time so she not have to beat head into ground?"   
Ranma finally smirked back at her, raising his palms up towards her. "You sure you're not too _tired_ to do that?"   
Shampoo placed her palms lightly against his, beginning to concentrate again for the technique. "Shampoo show Ranma how 'tired' she is!"   
Even as the two closed their eyes, blue aura began to surround Shampoo's motionless form, slowly creeping up her arms towards her hands-   
*crack*   
The sound of a twig snapping echoed across the clearing like a gunshot.   
Ranma was already jumping to his feet, Shampoo only a moment behind him. By the time their feet were planted on the ground, both were facing the source of the sound. 

Akane stared in disbelief at the two individuals in the middle of the clearing, shaking   
her head in denial of what she was seeing before her.   
Ranma.   
Shampoo.   
Together.   
"What is _THIS_!?!" she demanded angrily. 

* * *

end part 7


	8. Part 8

Valley of the Wind Productions presents...   
Power   
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Intrasonic 

> brackets denote Chinese speech 

* * *

Part 8

* * *

"What is _THIS_!?!" Akane demanded angrily.   
The other two present glanced briefly at each other.   
"How she find?" Shampoo muttered.   
"Musta followed me," Ranma muttered back.   
"Shampoo not plan on fight yet."   
He shrugged. "Then we'll just team up against her."   
"That not have honour," she objected.   
"What's wrong with it? Two-on-two. The two of us, against her and whatever's giving her all that power. That's fair to _me_."   
Simple logic, but fairly intact, Shampoo agreed. It was time to see if her training had done anything. And it would be alongside Ranma... "Is good."   
"You think you can pull off that technique on her?" Ranma hissed.   
A challenge, even if Ranma hadn't quite intended it that way. "Shampoo do technique," she agreed.   
"We'll try to distract Akane. I'll get her in a hold. Then you move in and try the technique. Got it?"   
If she thought that Ranma was deliberately trying to take the more dangerous of the two tasks, she set aside any retorts for the time being. Neither half was going to be easy... "Is good."   
The two slipped into their respective combat stances. 

In that instant, everything came crashing down for Akane. Not only were Ranma and Shampoo together, they weren't fighting each other. The hard-edged look in both pairs of eyes was unmistakable. They were both preparing to fight her at the same time.   
Those nights Ranma had come home completely exhausted, only to leave again the next day for still more training. The sudden change of heart that he'd displayed towards her. That business with him fighting the training dummies. Even the outing they'd just gone on together...   
... All ruined. All for nothing. And all because of one person...   
"You!!!" she growled, glaring furiously towards Shampoo. "This is all _your_ fault!!!"   
The amazon scowled. "Violent-girl beat Shampoo, Violent-girl beat Ranma. So we practice together to beat Violent-girl."   
"You're just a pair of sore losers!" she snapped.   
"And you're just a _liar_!" Ranma shot back. "You're a pathetic excuse for a martial artist, and your 'power' is just a big joke. And we're gonna prove it!!!   
"Just _try_ it!!!"   
Both sides attacked.   
"Don't let her hit you!" Ranma warned, realizing Akane's intended target.   
Shampoo slipped sideways around Akane's first punch, already ducking under the follow-up. Akane was slower, she decided. Either that, or too angry to even fight rationally. She'd decide for herself at a safer time.   
The third punch came faster, hitting her in the shoulder hard enough to knock her off-balance, skipping back a few steps to regain room to manoeuver.   
Ranma's double-kick came before any follow-up could occur, his first leg knocking Akane's legs out from under her, the second striking squarely in her ribs.   
Akane grunted from the impacts, but she was already grabbing Ranma's extended leg and swinging him over her head. He hit the ground a distance away, rolling several times before managing to right himself.   
Shampoo took the opportunity to plant a haymaker under Akane's chin, lifting the target right off her feet for a moment. Flipping backwards, the Amazon let her right leg lash out in a wide arc, aiming directly for Akane's stomach.   
The kick would have easily shattered a block of concrete, but Akane simply caught the foot and pulled. Shampoo wound up being thrown to the ground, twisting in time to absorb the impact with her shoulder instead of her head.   
Akane drew back to deliver a full-body kick to the recovering Amazon, when Ranma slammed into her from behind, yanked her arms behind her into a hold, while locking his legs with hers and forcing her to collapse to the ground.   
"GO FOR IT!!!" he urged, although Shampoo was already lunging at Akane.   
Akane strained against the hold, but the leverage was working severely against her. An attempted thrashing only served to roll the two of them over and give Shampoo a better target to work with.   
"Get away from me!" Akane yelled, still trying to twist out of the hold.   
Shampoo's pressed her left forearm against Akane, keeping her from moving too much, while her right hand flattened itself against the girl's chest. This was the moment of truth, she realized. Either the technique would work, or...   
Time seemed to slow as she began to concentrate and focus the battle-induced adrenaline rush into a single task. Her battle aura was already flaring up, the blue fire racing down the length of her arm towards Akane. Ranma's face was going red from exertion, a testament to the strength required simply to restrain Akane at the moment.   
"What... are you DOING?!?" Akane demanded, redoubling her effort upon seeing Shampoo's aura creeping towards her.   
Shampoo locked eyes with Akane, eerie flickers of aura dancing behind them. "Shampoo learn TRUTH about Violent-girl..."   
Somehow, the statement scared Akane more than any mere physical threat could have. The aura was emerging from between the Amazon's fingers, pausing only slightly as she began to muster the strength to bridge the gap between the two persons.   
"Nev..." Akane threw all her strength into a last-ditch effort, applying brute-strength to escape the hold where technique had failed. "NEVER!!!"   
Ranma cursed as he felt her strength begin to overpower him, despite his advantage in leverage. She was simply too strong to restrain. "Get back, Sham-"   
Akane's left fist connected with Shampoo like a transport truck, her right arm grabbing Ranma's arm and hurling him away like discus. Both of them were spent tumbling across the clearing before finally colliding with a tree.   
"Ow," Ranma groaned, staggering to his feet and rubbing his head. He felt like he'd just played punching bag for Tarou in his cursed form."Geez, she's strong."   
"We not fast enough," Shampoo noted, nursing what was going to be a massive bruise to her side in a few hours. Even her Great-grandmother was never _this_ harsh during training.   
"Then we'll try it again. She can't get lucky forever."   
Akane was on her feet, a thin sheen of sweat on her face as she sucked in a few quick breaths of air. "You'll _never_ beat me!"   
"You not last forever!" Shampoo shot back.   
"I can hold out longer than you two!" she growled, in a fighting stance once again.   
"Then me and Shampoo'll just _keep_ training!" Ranma returned. "For as long as it takes! We'll figure out what's makin' you so strong, and we'll stop it. And then you'll be _nothing_!"   
Something about his statement seemed register with Akane, as her eyes briefly went vacant, as though suddenly realizing something. "You... this is all her fault! This is all that old woman's fault! She'll _pay_ for this!!!"   
"What're you talkin' about?"   
Akane pointed a finger at the two of them. "I'll deal with you two another time! This isn't over! Not by a long shot!!!"   
With that, she broke into a sprint, the other two simply watching her run off, somewhat bewildered at the sudden change in events.   
"What was she yellin' about?" Ranma wanted to know. "And where's she going?"   
"She run towards Nekohanten," Shampoo realized. "She fight with... Great-grandmother!"   
"No way. She ain't _that_ strong, is she?"   
"Not know..."   
Both broke into a sprint towards the restaurant. 

* * *

With a crash, the door to the Nekohanten was thrown up with enough force to actually crack one of the hinges. The assailant stormed in only moments later, looking about the room angrily.   
"YOU!!!" Akane yelled angrily.   
Cologne blinked from where she was seated, then lifted another mouthful of noodles from her bowl to her mouth. "Good evening, Tendou-girl. I'm afraid we're closed right now."   
"Don't play innocent with me! This is all your fault!"   
The matriarch sighed. "Really, I'm quite sorry about being closed, but you'll simply have to come back next week. But I'm flattered that you're so distraught over not being able to sample our food."   
Akane smashed her fist down on the table, cracking it in two. "Don't play games with me!"   
Cologne skipped back, still holding her bowl of noodles. "Would you care to elaborate on why you just destroyed a piece of furniture?"   
"It's your fault Ranma hates me!"   
The Amazon raised an eyebrow. "My, I was wondering how long it would take for that to happen. You're looking rather dirty right now, by the way. You haven't been fighting recently, have you?"   
"This Jewel of Power was nothing but a trick to make Ranma hate me!"   
"I think not. It made you stronger, did it not? And you have my word of honour that the item has absolutely no other side effects."   
"Liar! This is what's making Ranma hate me!"   
"I very much doubt that Ranma hates you."   
"Says you! Then why was he teaming up with Shampoo to fight me?!?"   
Cologne gave a knowing smile. "Tendou-girl, you beat him in combat and fed him some story about being stronger than him. And you expected him to take _that_ lying down? Son-in-Law thrives on challenges, and when you defeated him, you just turned yourself into his latest challenge. And defeating Shampoo in combat? You literally beat her within an inch of her life, your control over your new power was so poor. That was absolute idiocy, considering the Amazon laws regarding such matters."   
Akane's face was red by this time. "You... you..."   
"Tendou-girl, you've been a fool. While you were strutting around enjoying your newfound power, he and my Great-granddaughter were training together like true warriors. Now which do you think would impress Son-in-Law more? A girl who thinks wearing a necklace is all that is required to be a martial artist, and isn't even willing to put in the effort required to improve herself? Or a girl who lives and breathes The Art, and is both willing and happy to take every bruise and blow required to become a more capable warrior? I merely clarified those choices for him. Or rather, _you've_ clarified those choices for him."   
Akane drew back her fist. "I'm not going to let you get away with this!"   
"Accept it and let it go," Cologne suggested. "You've nothing to gain from pursuing this business any further. I think your sister would advise the same thing."   
Akane lunged. 

* * *

With a crash, the door to the Nekohanten was thrown open with enough force to crack the remaining hinge, the door falling to the ground with noisy clatter.   
Cologne glanced up at the new arrivals, chewing a mouthful of noodles. "Were you two planning on fighting me as well?"   
Ranma blinked. "...as well?"   
"Violent-girl here?" Shampoo demanded, already preparing for another fight.   
Cologne gestured towards the floor behind her with her chopsticks. "She seemed rather upset with me over something before."   
Both visibly relaxed upon seeing Akane's unconscious form. "Great-grandmother beat Violent-girl?" Shampoo inquired, unable to keep a hint of awe from her voice.   
"I merely touched a pressure point. The girl seemed to think that I'd be foolish enough to give her so much power without being able to stop her if the need arose."   
The two blinked in unison.   
"You mean..." Ranma began. "... YOU were the one who made her so strong?!?"   
Cologne chuckled. "Why yes. I gave her a Jewel of Power. It's an old Amazon treasure that can increase one's strength. What I neglected to tell her was that the jewel doesn't create power out of thin air. It transfers power from another person wearing a similar jewel, which I happen to be wearing. Unfortunately for her, it's quite easy for me to block the flow of power. Needless to say, I didn't have much trouble defeating her."   
"You mean..." Ranma interpreted. "...all this time, she's been so strong because she was using _your_ power?"   
"In a nutshell, yes."   
Both alternated between staring at Cologne and each other.   
"You mean... we got pummelled because _you_ felt like playin' a joke on us?" Ranma finally demanded.   
"Is bad taste," Shampoo agreed, somewhat miffed herself.   
"Oh? You think I did it for fun?"   
Neither risked replying to _that_.   
"I would like to talk with you, Son-in-Law. Shampoo, if you would be so kind as to carry Miss Tendou back to her home?"   
Ranma swallowed, seeing a somewhat dangerous look cross Shampoo's face. "Uh..."   
"I do not want her harmed, Great-granddaughter," Cologne instructed firmly. "She has already been defeated. An Amazon warrior does not attack those under herself."   
Shampoo sucked in a breath, finally nodding her assent to the instructions. Picking up the sleeping form of Akane, she glanced back at the other two. "Shampoo take Violent-girl back to home. Then come back to restaurant."   
"Most appreciated, Great-granddaughter."   
The Amazon merely scowled as she exited the building.   
Ranma swallowed. "Hey... are you sure-"   
"She won't do anything to Akane," Cologne assured him. "As much as she might like to right now. So... I presume that the two of you fought with Akane?"   
Ranma rubbed his arm gingerly. "Yeah, we fought. I guess it makes sense why she was so hard to beat."   
"Indeed. So... I suppose you're rather upset with me right now?"   
"What kinda question is _that_?"   
"I've been waiting these past few days while you and my Great-granddaughter trained together. I watched her come home each night, full of bruises, but with a smile on her face. And she has told me that you admitted to enjoying it yourself. And I know that her skills have improved, even in this short time. Would you deny such a thing?"   
"I guess we did better against Akane this time," Ranma agreed neutrally.   
Cologne chuckled. "You mean to say that you actually hated it the whole time?"   
"I didn't say that! So what's your point?"   
"I merely did this to clarify something for you, Son-in-Law. This isn't about marriage or such business, exactly. I simply sought to point out a crucial difference between the two girls. Put simply, one is a martial artist, while the other is merely a person who does martial artist. You know the difference, do you not?"   
Ranma face took on a sombre look. "Yeah... I get you."   
"You cannot afford to ignore that difference, Son-in-Law. You have devoted your life to the betterment of yourself in The Art. Would you just throw it all away?" 

* * *

Nabiki's ears perked up upon hearing someone enter the house. They hadn't knocked, but they weren't trying to keep their arrival a secret either. Ranma or Akane, no doubt. Back from their mutually-friendly-outing-that-was-not-a-date, of course. Hopefully, they were smart enough to arrive home separately.   
Setting down her book, she left her house and waited at the top of the steps for the arrival to start upstairs. Depending on who it was, she looked forward to either teasing or questioning them.   
It was safe to say therefore, that seeing Shampoo carrying in an unconscious Akane was a surprise to her. But she hid it well.   
"I suppose you were planning on knocking at some point?" Nabiki inquired with a frown. "Although I don't believe that's _ever_ been your strong point, has it?"   
Shampoo met the glare. "Where room?"   
Questions could wait a few moments. "This way."   
Once Shampoo had set down her younger sister on the bed, Nabiki resumed the questioning. "Would you care to give me an explanation for this? I don't take kindly to having my younger sister beaten unconscious, you know."   
"Mercenary-girl see bruise on Violent-girl?" Shampoo demanded, lifting the side of her shirt. "_This_ bruise."   
"So why are _you_ the one carrying _her_?"   
"Violent-girl attack Great-grandmother. Very stupid."   
Nabiki groaned inwardly. Somehow, she was beginning to have a hunch that the outing had _not_ gone smoothly. "And where is Ranma?"   
"He talk with Great-grandmother. Shampoo go back to Nekohanten now."   
"Just like that? No Kiss of Death? No memory shampoos? No other Amazon laws?"   
Shampoo reached towards Akane, lifting a necklace from around her neck. "Violent-girl not defeat Shampoo. Jewel make strong, jewel defeat Shampoo. Not work anymore."   
"A jewel that made her super-strong," Nabiki agreed, eyeing the piece of jewellery with a frown. Amazon origin, if she was any judge. "Of course. Care to tell me how she came into possession of this jewel in the first place?"   
The Amazon scowled as she headed towards the door. "Not know. Ask Great-grandmother if want to know."   
Nabiki's face finally clouded over as she was left alone in the room with Akane. "Yes... I think I _will_ ask her."   
Akane was stirring now, her muscles tensing and relaxing as life slowly came back to them. As Shampoo had pointed out before, aside from a few scuff and dirt marks, she looked unharmed. Defeating an opponent without actually harming them was a strong trademark of Cologne's fighting tactics, she knew.   
Akane's eyes were finally opening, blinking as they struggled to accommodate the incoming light while focussing on the ceiling. Nabiki waited patiently until they had fixed themselves upon her before speaking.   
"Hello, little sister. Care to fill me on the details?" 

* * *

"So what was the point of all that?" Ranma was demanding. "You even taught us that technique to use!"   
"Of course, the technique," Cologne agreed, still smiling.   
"Well?"   
"What Great-grandmother teach?" Shampoo demanded, walking into the door-less doorway. "Shampoo want know too."   
"Simple. You and Shampoo have been training in the "Mind's Eye" technique. It's a highly effective technique used for marital counselling. It lets two warriors look into each other's mind, coming to a greater and deeper understanding of each other in the process."   
"Is LIE!!!"   
"You taught us a _THERAPY_ technique!?!"   
"I had you waiting tables and balancing soup as a girl, Son-in-Law. I had Lost Boy bashing himself into boulders for a week. Exactly what do you find so unbelievable about _this_ situation?"   
"Great-grandmother terrible."   
Ranma sighed, acknowledging the point. "Yeah, yeah. This ain't some kind of trap, is it? There ain't some Amazon law that I'm breaking now, is there?"   
"Nothing at all. The technique requires both people to be willing participants, making it useless for actual combat, but it worked well enough between the two of you."   
"So why Great-grandmother teach?" Shampoo insisted.   
"Akane ain't strong anymore, is she?"   
"The jewel will not work any longer. She will be back to normal now. This little 'scheme' of mine is finished."   
Ranma let the statement sink in. "So what was the point?" he repeated.   
"The point, Son-in-Law," Cologne stated, "was to put this question to you - In light of everything you've and her have experienced, I ask you - do you really hate Shampoo that much? That you would refuse to even considering the idea of marrying her? That you hate the idea of spending time with someone who has loved you as a warrior from the day she met you, and is now learning to love you as a person as well? That you would be adverse to the thought of growing old together, training and bettering yourselves in The Art? Is Shampoo really _that_ repulsive to you?"   
Ranma scowled in reply, forcing himself not to meet Shampoo's face. "Don't go puttin' words in my mouth!"   
"Of course not," Cologne agreed with a smile. "It's getting late, Son-in-Law. You should get home yourself. And I wasn't really expecting an answer from you this very moment. But perhaps you should consider what I have said. Your future is at stake, after all."   
A tap against the doorframe made all three individuals turn to face the source.   
"The most incredible thing just happened," Nabiki deadpanned, leaning comfortably against the wood. "My little sister just arrived home, knocked unconscious, and being carried by Shampoo. Can you believe it?"   
"I never would have imagined," Cologne replied, just as flatly. "And so you came by to take Son-in-Law home?"   
"Ranma's a big boy, he can take care of himself. But your Great-granddaughter said that if I want to know what's going on, I'd better ask you. So consider yourself asked."   
"I see. What if I suggested that this is none of your business?"   
"What if I suggested that a few government branches do a more in-depth examination of your visitor's status in Japan? To say nothing of what our two younger Amazons have been up to on occasion? And is my request really _that_ unreasonable?"   
Cologne chuckled. "Well put. Great-granddaughter, Son-in-Law, consider yourselves dismissed. The two of us will further discuss this matter alone."   
"Right," Ranma agreed. "Gettin' late anyway."   
"You dismiss Shampoo from own house?" Shampoo muttered incredulously.   
"Oh, don't be that way. Go outside and get some fresh air."   
Neither Cologne nor Nabiki spoke until the room was devoid of anyone save themselves.   
"So as I was saying..." Nabiki began. "I just finished hearing out my little sister. Apparently you gave her a trinket necklace that was intended to make Ranma love Shampoo and hate her to the point where the two were ganging up to attack her."   
"Heaven forbid."   
"So I thought that I'd come down to figure out _what_ really happened. First, I'll tell you how I see the story so far. Then you can feel free to correct me and fill in the details. Does that sound fair?"   
"Quite. I'm all ears." 

* * *

It was two silent people who finally halted a short distance away from the Nekohanten, both consciously avoiding meeting the other's gaze. Unfortunately, the street was devoid of any other life at this hour, offering no convenient distractions for either of them at the moment.   
It was Shampoo who finally broke the silence. "Shampoo sorry."   
Ranma blinked. "You're sorry? How come?"   
"Sorry for Great-grandmother plan. Great-grandmother say she help Shampoo. Say that plan help Shampoo make Ranma like her more..."   
Ranma didn't say anything in reply to that.   
"...Shampoo not know what plan was. If Shampoo know what technique Great-grandmother really teach, she not agree to it."   
"Ah... don't worry about it. I guess the Ol' Ghoul had us both fooled this time. I guess it coulda been worse. And it's not like... I mean, we trust each other, right? I ain't gonna go telling anybody nothing."   
Shampoo nodded. "Is secret." 

* * *

"And once my little sister had all but beaten the life out of your Great-granddaughter, you simply came by and casually let Ranma know about it. And since both of them are the type who don't take being beaten lying down, it was fairly likely that the two would start working together. And because it was 'only' fighting, Ranma didn't get scared off from spending time with a prospective fiancee. And I imagine that Shampoo was absolutely thrilled to spend time training with her prospective husband."   
Cologne laughed as Nabiki paused to take a sip of water. "I am quite impressed, Tendou-girl. Your observation skills and intelligence do you credit. You would make an excellent Amazon elder, if I do say so myself."   
"I think that I'll take that as a compliment."   
"So if you do not mind me asking, I am rather unsure how your sister and my Great-granddaughter came into contact tonight."   
Nabiki shrugged. "Owing to the recent events, Ranma and Akane actually stopped fighting recently, so I figured I might as well take advantage of it to bring about some mutual understanding between them. Not unlike what you were doing, I suppose."   
"Indeed."   
"So I set them up on a friendly-outing-that-was-not-a-date tonight to a martial arts movie. I even trained Akane not to get angry whenever Ranma put his foot in his mouth. And somehow, things messed anyway."   
"Not on your account. Perhaps this idea of mine was more in jeopardy than I suspected. I confess that I hadn't planned on your interfering with this business so quickly."   
"I believe that I'll take that as a compliment as well."   
"As you should. But now that everything has occurred... what will you do now? Try to get me deported back to China?"   
Nabiki shook her head, offering a thin smile. "Unfortunately, the only person who's not completely legal in this country is Mousse. You've arranged things quite well for you and your Great-granddaughter. But Shampoo's been up to enough things that she could be considered a public menace. So I suppose that option's open to me. But I have other concerns. Namely, I want to know if you're going to finish what you started."   
"Please, clarify."   
"There is a pact that states that a Saotome must marry a Tendou. It doesn't actually specify who, but there's only one male Saotome, and three female Tendou's. And you just all but completely ruined the chances of Ranma marrying Akane."   
"There's always your older sister."   
"Kasumi's made enough sacrifices as it is. Besides, she's no more interested than I am. And I'm _not_ interested in the slightest."   
"Are you absolutely certain?"   
Nabiki smirked. "Oh, he's a good looking boy right now. And I bet he grows up to be one hell of a handsome man. But what does he have beyond that? He may be the best martial artist around - present company excepted - but that's _all_ he's got. He's got the worst case of foot-in-mouth syndrome I've ever seen in my life. He stirs up more trouble than he's worth. So why would I want to marry him?"   
"Your logic is rare, Tendou-girl. And what of your family honour?"   
Nabiki shrugged. "I suppose that our family honour is still important."   
"Of course you still care about your family's honour. I understand completely. So tell me, how honourable is a sense of honour that cares nothing about the honour of others?"   
"I'm sure that your Amazon honour is as concerned about our family honour as ours is over yours. But the only two fiancees that Ranma is actually pledged to marry are Ukyou and someone from my family. Your Amazon claim is only one-way, if you follow me."   
"Quite true. So if you will not marry Son-in-Law, and you will not force your older sister marry him... what will you do?"   
Nabiki shrugged. "Get him to marry someone else. To be honest, I'm rather indifferent as to who that person is. My younger sister, Ukyou, Shampoo... he can marry Kodachi for all I care. But at this rate, he'll never agree to marry Akane. And my father will probably decide to stick _me_ with fiancee duties. And I already toyed with that once. I do _not_ feel like dealing with it again."   
Cologne nodded slowly. "I did not do this purely to spite your younger sister, Tendou-girl. Do you remember the talk we had earlier this evening?"   
"I do."   
"So what do you think? You have worked hard for what you have, and have made many sacrifices along the way. Could you see yourself marrying a person who did not understand this? Even if they know what type of person you are, does they mean that they _understand_ you? That they accept you? Were I to hazard a guess... I would say that you have yet to find such a person."   
"Not yet, but I'm still young."   
The matriarch continued. "To put it bluntly, your younger sister is a person of numerous interests. While Son-in-Law is a person of very few. I think you know firsthand the effort involved in simply getting them to spent an evening together in peace. And they are to be married? Will you be there every moment of their lives to assist them? Is there any merit to making such an effort to put two people together who cannot coexist on their own?"   
"It's... not a profitable approach."   
"It most certainly is not. In fact, might I suggest that you would actually be doing your younger sister a favour by ensuring that she does not marry Son-in-Law?"   
"Maybe. Maybe not. The point is moot if Ranma decides to marry someone else."   
"Quite right."   
"So..." Nabiki persisted, "are you going to finish what you started? You just finished making Ranma like Shampoo a lot more than he likes Akane. What's the next step of your plan?"   
"There isn't one, I'm afraid."   
"That's not what I want to hear."   
"And why should there be, Tendou-girl? Once you've started a rock rolling down a mountain, pushing it along further changes little. Far better to let it roll at its own pace, while you deal with any obstacles further down the hill."   
Nabiki stood up. "If that's how you stand on this matter..."   
"It is."   
"Then give me a call if I can help." 

* * *

"You okay?"   
"Shampoo fine."   
"I mean, I ain't sayin' your weak or nothin'. But we both got a little knocked around by Akane before..."   
She smiled faintly at his attempt at diplomacy. "Shampoo know Ranma not say she weak. And Shampoo sorry she get mad before. Shampoo little hurt, but okay tomorrow."   
"That's good," Ranma agreed, leaning back against the fence. "Y'know, I think I figured something out. Why Akane was always angry at me."   
Shampoo raised an eyebrow inquiringly, but said nothing.   
Ranma leaned back against the stone wall, staring idly at the night sky. "It was always about beating people up. That's all The Art ever was to her. I dunno why, but that's all she cared about. Once she could beat up everyone in the school, she stopped getting better. Then I showed up. She was always angry with me, 'cause she knew she couldn't really beat me. She probably coulda been as good as you or me. But she didn't want to sacrifice."   
"Need be warrior first, person second," Shampoo agreed quietly.   
"How 'bout you?" Ranma asked. "I mean, you're an Amazon warrior, right? Don't you hate me 'cause I'm... well, better than you?"   
She shrugged in reply. "Shampoo wish she as strong as Ranma. But Great-grandmother say get strong from sacrifice. So if Ranma stronger than Shampoo, he sacrifice more."   
"All those dumb training ideas of pop..." Ranma mused, unable to keep from laughing a little. "Maybe he wasn't so stupid after all. Even if he kept screwin' up, he knew what The Art was all about. Hafta thank him. In about fifty years, maybe."   
"Better practice with other person than with cats," Shampoo agreed, smiling herself.   
"Well... I guess I'd better be gettin' back to the dojo."   
"Is late. Akane not strong anymore, so Great-grandmother maybe want open restaurant again tomorrow."   
Ranma appeared to fidget somewhat as he turned to leave. After a moment, he looked back at Shampoo. "Uh, Shampoo?"   
"Ranma have question?"   
"Um, yeah. I was wondering... I mean, we did all that training an' stuff... even if it turns out it was just the ol' ghoul messing around with us..."   
"What Ranma want?"   
"Well... I... was wondering if... only if you really _want_ to, of course... but..."   
Shampoo frowned. "Ranma take all night to ask question?"   
He sucked in a breath. "D'you want to... maybe... practice tomorrow?"   
She blinked, staring at him in disbelief.   
Ranma swallowed, looking away uncomfortably. "I know we ain't tryin' to beat Akane anymore or nothin'. But... we're both getting better from it... the practising, I mean... so I thought maybe if you wanted to..."   
Shampoo leaned closer to him, forcing him to meet her eyes. All at once, the surroundings faded into nothing, every minute detail of the individual opposite them coming into perfect focus. For a precious instant in time, understanding was mirrored in both their eyes, intent as clear as crystal. "Ranma..."   
"Shampoo..."   
"Shampoo kick Ranma butt tomorrow."   
"Huh. You are _so_ gonna eat dirt tomorrow." 

* * *

Akane felt the footsteps approaching her door, the door swinging open several seconds later. Even as she forced herself to sit up on the edge of her bed, she could feel her heart speeding up, her knuckles whitening as she instinctively grabbed at her sheets. It was with some small relief that the person entering was her sister, and not someone else.   
"How are you feeling?" Nabiki inquired.   
Akane's reply was non-committal as she tried to read her sister's facial expression. The attempt was abandoned after a few futile moments. "Fine."   
"Cologne said that the pressure point should be fully worn off by now, and it has no lasting side effects."   
"You talked with her?"   
"I did."   
It was hard to miss the glimmer of hope springing into Akane's eyes. "And..."   
Nabiki's maintained an expressionless face. "I'm not doing anything to stop her."   
Akane's eyes opened wide. "But... you said that..."   
"I said that I'd talk with Cologne. And I did. We discussed everything, and we both agreed that it would be in everyone's best interests if things remained the way they are."   
"But... you're lying!"   
Nabiki crossed the room until she was standing before Akane. "I wouldn't lie about this, little sister. I'm not going to fight against what's happened."   
"She's forcing you to agree!"   
"Nobody forces me to do _anything_ that I don't want to."   
"Then why!?!"   
"Because Cologne and I talked things over, that's why. And after a little exchange of stories, we came to the conclusion that Ranma would get along with Shampoo much better than with you."   
Akane was on her feet now, fists clenched. "You're against me too!!!"   
"Excuse me?"   
"You and that old woman and Ranma and Shampoo... you're all against me!"   
Nabiki met Akane's eyes. "So what if we _are_ against you? Does that mean you're going to hit me too? Isn't that what started this whole mess in the _first_ place?!"   
Akane's anger deflated all at once, the girl falling back to sit on the edge of her bed.   
Nabiki quietly sat down next to her, gently wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulder. "Akane..."   
The arm was shoved away. "Go away! You're _all_ against me!"   
Nabiki carefully replaced the arm. "I wouldn't have helped if I was against you, little sister. I honestly thought you and Ranma had a chance to make things work. And I know that you wanted everything to work out."   
Akane swallowed audibly. "But... I thought..."   
Nabiki pulled Akane a little closer. "I know how you felt about him, little sister. Believe me, I know."   
A few small tears were beginning to trickle down the sides of Akane's face. "Why... didn't it... work?" she whispered. "It... should have worked..."   
A thousand possible answers passed through Nabiki's mind. Because Ranma lied to you. Because you lost your temper again. Because you were just another opponent to him. Because you never understood something important about him. Because the two of you never had a chance together.   
The issue Cologne had posed earlier echoed within Nabiki's mind. She herself had made sacrifices over the years, but she had made them willingly, and would do so again if given the choice now. But there were always the small regrets that inevitably came with them. She could sympathize with Akane, she could offer a shoulder to cry upon... and she would do so willingly. But she could never hope to empathize with her. Not in a meaningful sense. "I'm sorry, little sister... I really am."   
"I wanted... it... to..." The rest of the sentence was finished with a choked sob.   
Nabiki hugged Akane tighter, silently wishing someone else there in her stead. "I know you did, little sister. I did too. But... I think you need to understand... that the Ranma you had those feelings for... wasn't the real Ranma. I don't think he ever was." 

* * *

end part 8


	9. Part 9

Valley of the Wind Productions presents...   
Power   
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Intrasonic 

> brackets denote Chinese speech 

* * *

Part 9

* * *

"That's mine, old man!"   
"Try and get it, boy!"   
Genma cuffed his son over the head, quickly eating a piece of fish as he did so. Ranma took advantage of the brief pause to plant his foot in his father's face, inhaling a portion of rice in the process. Genma responded by grabbing his son and tossing him towards the pond. Ranma's free hand snagged his father by the sleeve, managing to drag the man along with him and into the pond. As expected, a girl and a panda surfaced, still flailing away at each other with the intensity of martial artists who were determined to eat each other's breakfast.   
*Growf!!!*   
"Go eat some bamboo, you old fool!"   
*GROWF!!!*   
"Same to you!!!"   
Genma finally over-extended a swipe, giving Ranma the opportunity to flip him head-first into a rock, providing the ideal window of opportunity. A fraction of a second later, the redhead was enveloping the remains of breakfast without bothering to use chopsticks. Another fraction of a second later, a rock bounced off the back of her skull, knocking her down into the now empty plate.   
[ Insolent boy ] Genma signed upon realizing the plates were now empty.   
Ranma tossed her father back into the pond, grabbing the plates before they followed. "Ha!!! You snooze, you lose, old man!!!"   
[ You won't be so lucky tomorrow ]   
Ranma bounced the aforementioned rock off the panda's head. "You don't even like fish when you're a panda, anyway! It don't matter what _I_ look like when I eat!"   
"Obviously not," Nabiki agreed, finishing off her own breakfast. "We should be getting to school, Akane."   
Akane finished clearing her own plate, silently congratulating herself on having managed to avoid eye-contact with Ranma throughout the entire meal. Somehow, she almost felt irritated that Ranma hadn't mentioned anything yet. "I'm coming." 

* * *

"So... how are you feeling?"   
Akane swallowed at the question, briefly glancing behind them to see if anyone else was around. More specifically...   
"Ranma will be a few more minutes while the kettle heats up," Nabiki assured her, reading the worried look on her sister's face. "You know he never likes to come to school as a girl if he can help it. So how are you feeling today?"   
"He hasn't said anything," was all she said for an answer.   
"True. So what did you expect him to say?"   
She wasn't entirely certain herself. "I don't know. But... it's like nothing ever happened! He and Shampoo were ganging up on me last night! How can he not say something about it all?"   
"Why should he? It's over with."   
"Just because I don't... have that power any more-"   
"That means that the whole affair is done with," Nabiki replied. "Seriously, Akane. This is Ranma we're talking about. He fights with his father for every piece of food at breakfast. He walks to school on the fences for balance practice. He gets brained by at least one of his fiancees every day. He has people challenging him all the time. What's so significant about you suddenly becoming strong enough to beat him?"   
Akane offered a rueful smile. "So I was nothing special, is that it?"   
"I didn't mean it that way, but for Ranma... he probably just figured that you were the next person in line. And do you see him holding grudges against anyone else?"   
"I guess not."   
"Of course not. It's just the way he is. It's one of those little things that make every girl in town think they'd like him for a boyfriend. And it's one of those little things that would probably make him the worst boyfriend in the world."   
"Maybe you're right."   
"I think I am. I can't speak for our favourite Amazon, but I don't think you should worry about having to face Ranma."   
Akane swallowed. "That reminds me. I... need to make a little trip to the Nekohanten."   
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you want to do that right now?"   
"No. But it's something I need to do." 

* * *

If Akane felt nervous knocking on the door to the Nekohanten, she hoped she didn't show it. Much. If she'd been asked to put her reasoning into words, she wasn't entirely certain that she could have succeeded. But if nothing else, she was going to see a certain matter through to the end. And deal with the consequences as they came at her...   
The door opened quietly.   
"Good day, Tendou-girl."   
"Good morning... Cologne." Akane paused, not quite certain where to start. "I... you fixed the door, I guess."   
"Not a difficult thing. It happens quite often, to be honest. Is there anything that I can help you with? I'm afraid that Shampoo is out on errands right now, but...."   
If Akane hadn't seen the wry smile on the Amazon's face, she would have had no trouble hearing it. "That's... okay. I... came to return something to you."   
"Oh?"   
Akane swallowed, extending her hand forwards. "This... jewel. It's yours."   
Cologne nodded, accepting the jewel. "Thank-you. These jewels are a treasure that belong to the Amazons as a whole, one of our many legacies. And time after time, they have served as a lesson to aspiring warriors. A reminder as to what true power is, and a reminder of what is required to achieve it."   
"I... think I understand. And I'm... sorry about yesterday."   
"No real harm done, Tendou-girl. And I was the one who originally misled you. Were you aware that your sister and I discussed the matter last night?"   
"Nabiki told me about it. She's... not going to do anything."   
"Do you understand why?"   
Wordlessly, Akane nodded.   
"You and Son-in-Law have grown up worlds apart, to the point where you no longer even think the same way. He has known nothing but The Art. The Art has consumed his existence to the point where everything else that he does is but an extension of it. It is the same with my Shampoo. Though they may be taught, play games, or talk with friends. they do so as martial artists. The pain and sorrow in their lives are but necessary tools to forge them into stronger people. The joy and happiness in their lives are the rewards of their dedication and serve as encouragement to further their pursuit even more. It is no mere hobby or interest for them, it is who they are at heart."   
Akane looked downcast as she started to leave the restaurant. "I... I'm sure they'll be happy together."   
Cologne chuckled. "You make it sound as though the two were already married, Tendou-girl. Do you really believe that Son-in-Law's problems could be settled so easily?"   
Akane looked back, a slightly curious look on her face.   
"I have made the two aware of a common bond they share," the Amazon continued, "but that is all. You don't really think the lunacy in Son-in-Law's life will suddenly end now?"   
"Probably not."   
"Of course not. Unexpected things can happen in the blink of an eye. I would not discount yourself from the race already. But you should run the race with open eyes."   
Akane took a deep breath. "I... I'm not... in the race anymore."   
"You can't say that for certain."   
"No." Akane's voice was firmer this time. "I don't _want_ to be. You're right. Ranma and I... aren't alike. We grew up in completely different worlds. I don't understand how... he can be the way he is. If Shampoo does, then maybe they'll be happy together."   
"Are you quite sure?"   
"Yes. And maybe this way, him and I can at least stop fighting all the time."   
Cologne gave an approving smile. "If that is your stand on the matter, then perhaps you've come out wiser for this experience in the end. Then allow me to give one last thing for you to meditate over."   
Akane blinked, not deigning to say anything.   
"Look around you as you head to school," the matriarch advised. "Look at all the people around you, and try to imagine all the things that they strive towards through their day. Much the same as you, I imagine. Education, money, entertainment, food,   
exercise, friendship, happiness, love... so many different things for each person. But is that really such a strange thing?"   
"I... don't think so."   
"Of course not. But Son-in-law would have difficulty understanding such a thing. For him, The Art is all. Anything and everything else is irrelevant in comparison to that. And still girls chase after him, thinking that they could possibly distract him."   
Akane had to laugh at that, thinking back to what Nabiki had said earlier. "Maybe you're right. Maybe most of the time, he barely even knows we even exist."   
"So don't get angry about it all, Tendou-girl. Just stand back and enjoy the show. Live your life the way you want it to be. Study at school, have fun with your friends, and by all means, keep practising your martial arts. But above all, enjoy your life. Is there really any point in trying to be someone else?"   
That was food for thought.   
"You should be getting to school," Cologne suggested kindly. "And I believe it's about time that we opened the doors of the Nekohanten again."   
"I guess you're right. But thanks." Akane smiled in spite of herself. "Even for that necklace, I guess. Maybe there _is_ something to all those thousands of years of Amazon history after all."   
Cologne cackled at that. "Only for those who would listen, Tendou-girl. Would that Son-in-law occasionally saw things that way too. Have yourself a pleasant day." 

It was with a lighter mood that Akane continued on her way to school. Even if she'd been almost fearing it beforehand, it had been good to get that business off her chest. She wasn't quite sure how she'd react upon seeing Shampoo face-to-face the next time, but she'd simply have to deal with that as best she could. In the meantime...   
Up ahead, the school yard awaited her as it always did. Ranma was already there, and busy fighting it out with Kunou. Apparently, Ranma was once again guilty of corrupting innocent maidens with his evil charms...   
Lunacy. But not her own, Akane decided with a smile. Ranma could live out his own life however he wanted to. If that entailed getting every single martial artist in the world angry or in love with him for some reason... knowing him, he probably considered it all training. But as for herself...   
"Akane!!!"   
Akane turned to meet Yuki. "Good morning!" she greeted cheerfully.   
"What's up?" the other girl inquired curiously. You look really happy."   
And somehow, she _was_ happy. "No reason. You ever have one of those days when everything just seems right?"   
"So what happened?"   
She would have loved to be a powerful martial artist just like Ranma, Akane reflected. But she was finally beginning to understand what she would have had to sacrifice in the process. And even looking at Yuki's bemused expression right now... some sacrifices would have been too great. "Nothing much. Life is just good, that's all." 

* * *

THE END 

* * *

Author's Notes:   
Just about every Ranma 1/2 fan has their favourite fiancee, if you will. And they've all got their reasons for preferring that particular fiancee. I suppose that I could have just thrown together a quick little essay on my favourite fiancee, posted it up   
on my site, and moved on to other things. But if someone is going to believe something, shouldn't it be put to the test? That is, if I happen to think Shampoo would be the best match-up for Ranma, shouldn't it possible to make a story along those lines?   
/fanfic author's motivational crisis> 

This story is the cumulation of such thoughts, and I suppose that I'm fairly happy with the result. Yes, I suppose you could say that I fall into the Shampoo-club. Although I would say it's more of an anti-Akane thing. To be blunt, the only thing I really think the Ranma-Akane match-up has going for it is the fact that it's canon. Not to discount that little fact, but the idea that Ranma and Akane could expect to live a happy, fulfilling, married life together falls along the lines of the notion that putting a wolf and a sheep together will result in mating. Pairing up Ranma and Akane is a source of comedy, not romance. The only really distinctive thing that I ever see about the Ranma-Akane match-up is the whole "Too stubborn to admit their real feelings" notion that's incredibly popular with the WAFF crowd. To brutally honest, is that sort of leap of logic only permissible with one fiancee? 

The fact remains that Ranma is obsessive about martial arts. And he's going to have problems with a fiancee who is not. Akane is not obsessive about martial arts. Whereas Shampoo is the one fiancee who's consistently portrayed as a capable martial artist (Original meeting, Dojo Destroyer, Super Soba, Hot Springs Race, Pink&Link, etc). And with a Great-grandmother like Cologne, is that a surprise? 

This story is basically a cumulation of those thoughts (And others). But I'd also like to put forth another question. Can a story be a romance without any kissing or marriage proposals happening? If so, consider this story to be one. Hope you enjoyed it. 


End file.
